International Longshoremen's Asso. v. Davis

International Longshoremen's Asso. v. Davis

Opinion

 [*381]  [****4]  [***394]  [**1907]     JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the Court.

 The opinion in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959), set forth a general standard for determining when state proceedings or regulations are pre-empted by the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act), see 29 U. S. C. § 151 et seq. (1982 ed. and Supp. II): Subject to exception only in limited circumstances, "[when] an activity is arguably subject to § 7 or § 8 of the Act [29 U. S. C. § 157 or § 158], the States as well as the federal courts must defer to the exclusive competence of the National Labor Relations Board if the danger of state interference with  [***395]  national policy is to be averted." 359 U.S., at 245. This general standard has been applied in a multitude of cases decided since Garmon, and it must be applied again today. Before addressing that question, however, we must consider the very nature of such pre-emption -- whether Garmon pre-emption is in the nature of an affirmative defense  [*382]  that must be asserted in the trial court or be considered forever waived or whether it is in the nature [****5]  of a challenge to a court's power to adjudicate that may be raised at any time.

Appellee Larry Davis was formerly employed by Ryan-Walsh Stevedoring Co. in Mobile, Alabama. At the times relevant to the events that gave rise to this suit, he was a ship superintendent or trainee ship superintendent. The ship superintendents apparently served as the immediate superiors of the longshoremen employed by Ryan-Walsh. They were on salary, however, and their compensation was generally lower than that received by the longshoremen, who worked on an hourly basis.

In early 1981, Ben Trione, one of the ship superintendents who worked for Ryan-Walsh, contacted appellant International Longshoremen's Association (ILA or Union), a union that represents longshoremen and other employees on the waterfront, to discuss the possibility of organizing the superintendents and affiliating with the  [**1908]  Union. Although the parties here dispute the content of the conversations that occurred at this stage between Trione and the ILA representatives regarding the ship superintendents and their eligibility for union membership, it is undisputed that a meeting of the superintendents was organized by Trione [****6]  and attended by Benny Holland, an ILA official from Houston, Texas.

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