Railway Employes' Department, American Federation of Labor, et al. v. Hanson et al.

Decided May 21, 1956. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 451 · 351 U.S. 225 (1956) · Cited 399 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Adair v. United States · 208 U.S. 161 (1908)
• Texas & NOR Co. v. Brotherhood of Ry. & Steamship Clerks · 281 U.S. 548 (1930)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. · 301 U.S. 1 (1937)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• Virginian Railway Co. v. System Federation No. 40 · 300 U.S. 515 (1937)
• Truax v. Raich · 239 U.S. 33 (1915)
• Barrows v. Jackson · 346 U.S. 249 (1953)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• In Re Debs · 158 U.S. 564 (1895)
• Public Utilities Commission v. Pollak · 343 U.S. 451 (1952)
• Takahashi v. Fish & Game Commission · 334 U.S. 410 (1948)
• Hurd v. Hodge · 334 U.S. 24 (1948)
• Lincoln Federal Labor Union v. Northwestern Iron & Metal Co. · 335 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard · 343 U.S. 768 (1952)
• Cleveland v. United States · 329 U.S. 14 (1946)
• Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad · 295 U.S. 330 (1935)
• Wilson v. New · 243 U.S. 332 (1917)
• American Federation of Labor v. American Sash & Door Co. · 335 U.S. 538 (1949)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• International Ass'n of MacHinists v. Street · 367 U.S. 740 (1961)
• Lathrop v. Donohue · 367 U.S. 820 (1961)
• Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Assn. · 500 U.S. 507 (1991)
• Ellis v. Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes · 466 U.S. 435 (1984)
• California v. Taylor · 353 U.S. 553 (1957)
• Keller v. State Bar of California · 496 U.S. 1 (1990)
• Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
• System Federation No. 91 v. Wright · 364 U.S. 642 (1961)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Communications Workers of America v. Beck · 487 U.S. 735 (1988)
• Brotherhood of Railway & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes v. Allen · 373 U.S. 113 (1963)
• Flagg Bros., Inc. v. Brooks · 436 U.S. 149 (1978)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Bildisco & Bildisco · 465 U.S. 513 (1984)
• Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. · 451 U.S. 504 (1981)
• Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee · 412 U.S. 94 (1973)
• Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson · 475 U.S. 292 (1986)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Swift & Co. v. Wickham · 382 U.S. 111 (1965)
• International Ass'n of MacHinists v. Central Airlines, Inc. · 372 U.S. 682 (1963)
• Local 24, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Oliver · 358 U.S. 283 (1959)
• Glickman v. Wileman Brothers & Elliott, Inc. · 521 U.S. 457 (1997)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Independent Federation of Flight Attendants · 489 U.S. 426 (1989)
• Black v. Cutter Laboratories · 351 U.S. 292 (1956)
• Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers International Union v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 426 U.S. 407 (1976)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).