Cite as: 518 U. S. 231 (1996)
Stevens, J., dissenting
The Court nevertheless contends that the "rationale" of our prior cases supports its approach. Ante, at 243. As support for that contention, it relies heavily on the views espoused in Justice Goldberg's separate opinion in Meat Cutters v. Jewel Tea Co., 381 U. S. 676 (1965). At five critical junctures in its opinion, see ante, at 236, 237-238, 242, 247- 248, the Court invokes that separate concurrence to explain why, for purposes of applying the nonstatutory labor exemption, labor law policy admits of no distinction between collective employer action taken in response to labor demands and collective employer action of the kind we consider here.
It should be remembered that Jewel Tea concerned only the question whether an agreement between employers and a union may be exempt, and that even then the Court did not accept the broad antitrust exemption that Justice Goldberg advocated. Instead, Justice White, the author of Penning-ton, writing for Chief Justice Warren and Justice Brennan, explained that even in disputes over the lawfulness of agreements about terms that are subject to mandatory bargaining, courts must examine the bargaining process to determine whether antitrust scrutiny should obtain. Jewel Tea, 381 U. S., at 688-697. "The crucial determinant is not the form of the agreement—e. g., prices or wages—but its relative impact on the product market and the interests of union members." Id., at 690, n. 5 (emphasis added). Moreover, the three dissenters, Justices Douglas, Clark, and Black, concluded that the union was entitled to no immunity at all. Id., at 735-738.
It should also be remembered that Justice Goldberg used his separate opinion in Jewel Tea to explain his reasons for dissenting from the Court's opinion in Pennington. He explained that the Court's approach in Pennington was unjustifiable precisely because it permitted "antitrust courts" to reexamine the bargaining process. The Court fails to explain its apparent substitution in this case of Justice Gold-
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