International Ass'n of MacHinists v. State Ex Rel. Watson

The pith of this controversy is the validity vel non of a closed shop agreement in a contract between Tampa Shipbuilding Company and International Association of Machinists to construct ships for the United States Navy. The court below found the closed shop agreement to be “ultra vires and invalid by virtue of present war conditions.”

The majority opinion reverses the trial court on the theory that, (1) None of the parties to the contract have complained or raised any question as to the validity of the closed shop agreement, and (2) The Constitution vests in Congress and the President the…