P filed a complaint against striking employees who were receiving public assistance. P sought a declaration that the benefits that were being given to the striking workers were null and void because they constituted an interference with the federal labor policy of free collective bargaining expressed in 29 USC 141 and with other provisions announced in the Social Security Act. P sought injunctive relief against New Jersey welfare administrators making public funds available to labor union members engaged in the strike; P filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. The union contended that the entire matter was moot because the union members had voted to return to work the next day. The District Court proceeded on the merits and eventually denied the motion for a preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint. The Third Circuit remanded the case with instructions to vacate and dismiss for mootness. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider the mootness issue.