Hotel & Restaurant Employees' International Alliance, Local No. 122 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Board

Background

A group of unions representing hotel and restaurant employees entered a closed‑shop contract with a hotel company in Milwaukee. After renewal talks failed and arbitration was offered, the workers struck and union members picketed the hotels. Some pickets used force, blocked deliveries, committed assaults, and were convicted or fined. The employer complained to the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board, which found unfair labor practices and issued a cease‑and‑desist order with requirements to stop certain picketing and to post notices.

Reasoning

The key question was whether Wisconsin had forbidden peaceful picketing that the Constitution protects. The Wisconsin Supreme Court interpreted the state Employment Peace Act and the Board’s order to target violent, coercive, or obstructive conduct—such as mass picketing that prevents workers from entering, threats, intimidation, or force—not peaceful speech. The Supreme Court of the United States accepted that state court construction. Because the order as construed by Wisconsin leaves peaceful picketing and free speech unimpaired, the federal constitutional claim fails and the judgment upholding the order is affirmed.

Real world impact

States may enforce orders stopping picketing that involves force, threats, or obstruction while leaving lawful, peaceful picketing intact. Unions and workers who want to protest must avoid violence and coercion or face state enforcement. The decision also shows that how a state court interprets its law controls the federal constitutional review, so the outcome depends on the state court’s construction of statutes.