Lockett v. Construction Trades Union A. F. of L.

1952 OK 429, 250 P.2d 468, 207 Okla. 484, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 833, 31 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2178
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 25, 1952
Docket35163
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1952 OK 429 (Lockett v. Construction Trades Union A. F. of L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lockett v. Construction Trades Union A. F. of L., 1952 OK 429, 250 P.2d 468, 207 Okla. 484, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 833, 31 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2178 (Okla. 1952).

Opinion

O’NEAL, J.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court of Cleveland county, sustaining a demurrer to the plaintiff’s evidence on plaintiff’s application for a temporary injunction, in an action whereby plaintiff sought to enjoin the named defendants from picketing and conducting a secondary boycott of plaintiff’s building under construction known as the New Norman Hotel in the city of Norman, Oklahoma.

The petition substantially alleges that there is no present labor dispute between the plaintiff and the named defendants; that the Construction Trades Union A.F. of L., and the International Hod Carrier’s Building and Common Laborer Union of America, acting through the defendant, Frank Phelps, employed the defendant, Don Kinsey, to picket said construction project by carrying a banner stating that the plaintiff, Lloyd Lockett, was unfair to the defendant, Construction Trades Union A.F. of L.

That after the issuing of a temporary restraining order, as prayed for, the defendants, Charlie DeLong, Frank Phelps, R. B. Elliott, J. D. Wilson, W. Tex Taylor, and Tom Rushing, as business managers or agents of their respective trade unions, called off of said construction project all employees, members of their respective unions, under threat of cancellation of their union cards. That each of the individual named defendants have entered into a “secondary boycott” to coerce plaintiff to enter into contracts with third parties covering subcontracts on said building. That plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law, and that unless defendants (except Don C. Kinsey) are restrained from calling off of said project, members of their various unions, and from picketing said project, plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury. The prayer of the petition seeks the issuance of a temporary restraining order.

Upon trial the court denied plaintiff the relief sought, and from the order denying a new trial, the plaintiff appeals.

Plaintiff here asserts:

(a) That the picketing is unlawful as defendants are engaged in a secondary boycott; and the picketing is carried on for the purpose of coercing plaintiff to breach his contract with third parties.

(b) That 40 O.S. 1951 §166 of the Oklahoma Statutes is unconstitutional and, even though constitutional, does not protect defendants in their unlawful activities.

The essential facts for our consideration disclose that Mr. Lockett, a general contractor, was financially interested in the construction of a hotel building in Norman, Oklahoma. He moved a small frame building near the pro *486 posed project, which building was used, in part, as a field office. Certain electrical wiring and fixtures were installed in this office building by a non-union electrician.

The defendant, Construction Trades Union A.F. of L., is an unincorporated association whose members comprise union members; that the individual named defendants, as business managers or agents of the named trade unions, employed the defendant, Don Kinsey, to picket the construction project by carrying a banner stating that Lloyd Lockett, the general contractor, was unfair to the defendant, Construction Trades Union A.F. of L.

Mr. Lockett intended to furnish all material going into the building project, and to personally supervise the construction thereof. He entered into some preliminary negotiations with the Waters Electric Company for the purchase of the electrical equipment, and with the Kunkel Plumbing and Heating Company for the plumbing. Both concerns were non-union.

A committee composed of a majority of the member crafts, represented by the unions, called on Mr. Lockett on several occasions, and the employment of the non-union electrician doing electrical work on the office building was discussed. The committee informed Mr. Lockett that the crafts would only work through subcontractors, and the union could not furnish him direct craftsmen for construction work. Mr. Lockett advised the committee that he might organize an electrical and a plumbing company of his own to meet their suggestions. The committee advised him that they could not recognize such a company for an individual job.

Plaintiff attempted to prove that craftsmen were threatened with loss of their union cards if they passed the picket line. Plaintiff failed to make this proof, but by the preponderance of the evidence it is disclosed that no such threats were made. It is further established that the union defendants, or their representatives, were not authorized to cancel union memberships for a violation of a picket line, but that such action could only be taken by the local unions.

The evidence conclusively discloses that the picketing was not carried on upon the plaintiff’s premises, and it shows that it was accomplished without any physical force or violence whatsoever.

Plaintiff contends that 40 O.S. 1951 §166 is unconstitutional, and even though constitutional, does not protect defendants in their unlawful acts. Sec. 166 follows:

“No agreement, combination or contract by or between two or more persons to do or procure to be done, or not to do or procure not to be done, any act in contemplation or furtherance of .any trade dispute between employers and employees, shall be deemed criminal, nor shall those engaged therein be indictable or otherwise punishable for the crime of conspiracy, if such act committed by one person would not be punishable as a crime, nor shall such agreement, combination or contract be considered as in restraint of trade or commerce, nor shall any restraining order or injunction be issued with relation thereto. Nothing in this article, shall exempt from punishment otherwise than is herein excepted, any person guilty of conspiracy for which punishment is provided by any other law of the State, but such other law shall, as to the agreement, combination and contracts heretofore referred to, be construed as if this Article, was therein contained: Provided, that nothing in this Article, shall be construed to authorize force or violence.”

The Criminal Court of Appeals, in State v. Coyle et al., 7 Okla. Cr. 50, 122 P. 243, construed the Act, supra, and held it constitutional and not in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing the equal protection of the laws.

In re Sweitzer, 13 Okla. Cr. 154, 162 P. 1134, the same court construing §3764, Rev. Laws 1910, 40 O.S. 1951 §166, held:

*487 “That it stays the hand of both civil and criminal process from interfering with ‘picketing,’ or other peaceable and legitimate endeavors of labor, to further their interests in trade disputes, between themselves and their employers.”

In the case of Holland v. Minnehoma Oil & Gas Co., 184 Okla. 640, 89 P. 2d 764, we construed §10878, O.S. 1931, 40 O.S. 1951 §166. In that case the defendant invoked the statute as a bar to the issuance of an injunction. The defendant’s position was held untenable because he had by force and violence taken possession of plaintiff’s property. We, therefore, held that the mere fact that there was a labor dispute does not forbid the issuance of an injunction where force and violence is shown to exist.

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Bluebook (online)
1952 OK 429, 250 P.2d 468, 207 Okla. 484, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 833, 31 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lockett-v-construction-trades-union-a-f-of-l-okla-1952.