McDonald v. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad

1. Jurisdiction. The circuit court was of the opinion that because this action would involve interpretation of a collective-bargaining agreement between a railroad and a union the Congress, by the Railway Labor Act, had *209vested exclusive jurisdiction in the national railroad adjustment board.

The Railway Labor Act 1 classified railroad labor disputes into two large categories, labeled by the supreme court as “major” and “minor” and established separate procedures for handling each.2 Major disputes involve agreements not yet reached; i.e., negotiations for future contracts. They present the…