In the Lewis v. Benedict Coal Corp. case of 1959, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of a union's right to collect royalties from coal companies for each ton of coal mined and sold. The funds were intended to support miners' welfare and retirement benefits as per an agreement between the United Mine Workers Union (UMW) and several coal companies including Benedict Coal Corporation. However, Benedict refused to pay these royalties arguing that it was illegal under anti-trust laws since it involved price-fixing activities by restricting competition among producers who did not agree with UMW's terms. The court disagreed with this argument stating that labor unions were exempted from such regulations if their actions had legitimate labor objectives like improving workers’ conditions or wages which was evident in this case through funding miners' welfare programs.

In the dissenting opinion for Lewis et al., Trustees, v. Benedict Coal Corp., Justice Frankfurter disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 302(c)(5) of the Labor Management Relations Act. He argued that Congress intended to limit union welfare funds' uses and not allow them to be used as a means for unions to impose fines on employers. The justice believed that allowing such use would open up possibilities for abuse and corruption, undermining labor-management relations rather than promoting them as intended by the law. Furthermore, he pointed out that there was no explicit provision in the collective bargaining agreement authorizing this kind of penalty payment into a trust fund; thus it should not be enforced by courts under federal labor policy.