Phar-mor, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1776

632 A.2d 913, 429 Pa. Super. 393, 145 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2824, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3649
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 29, 1993
DocketNo. 777
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 632 A.2d 913 (Phar-mor, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1776) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phar-mor, Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1776, 632 A.2d 913, 429 Pa. Super. 393, 145 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2824, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3649 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OLSZEWSKI, Judge:

Phar-Mor, Inc. [“Phar-Mor”] appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County denying its petition for a preliminary injunction. We affirm.

The undisputed facts follow. From July, 1990 through November, 1990, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776 [“Local 1776”] conducted a campaign to organize workers at Phar-Mor stores, including appellant’s stores at Franklin Mills Mall and Great Northeast Plaza [“the Stores”]. Local 1776 representatives repeatedly entered the Stores to distribute union literature and converse with Phar-Mor employees in an attempt to persuade them to adopt Local 1776 as their collective bargaining representative. Union literature was often left scattered around the Stores. Local 1776 representatives did not threaten or carry out injury to persons or damage to property. Entrances and exits to the Stores were in no way obstructed. Phar-Mor repeatedly requested Local 1776 representatives to leave the Stores on the grounds that their activities violated Phar-Mor’s clearly posted “no solicitation/no distribution” policy.1 Verbal exchanges occurred between Phar-Mor managers and Local [397]*3971776 representatives. When Local 1776 activities continued, Phar-Mor called the local police in an attempt to prevent Local 1776 from entering the Stores. The police department told Phar-Mor that it would not act without a court order. Phar-Mor then filed a petition for a preliminary injunction to enjoin Local 1776 from distributing pro-union literature and soliciting Phar-Mor employees in the Stores. Phar-Mor claimed that Local 1776’s activities amounted to harassment and were causing a loss of customer good will.

The matter was scheduled for a hearing on November 29, 1990, before the Honorable Calvin T. Wilson. Prior to the hearing, Judge Wilson held a conference to encourage Phar-Mor and Local 1776 to reach a voluntary settlement, but none was reached. The parties, however, did agree to waive an evidentiary hearing and submit the dispute to the trial court on the basis of the alleged facts. Local 1776 accepted as true all of the facts averred in Phar-Mor’s complaint for purposes of the preliminary injunction issue. Nevertheless, Local 1776 filed preliminary objections to the requested injunctive relief on the grounds that Local 1776 used exclusively peaceful means to educate Phar-Mor employees about the benefits of union membership, and therefore, granting the injunction would contravene the Pennsylvania Labor Anti-Injunction Act, 43 P.S. § 206a et seq. [the “Act”]. Furthermore, Phar-Mor had filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board regarding Local 1776’s conduct. Local 1776 argued that the court must defer to the board’s judgment since it has exclusive jurisdiction over alleged unfair labor practices. Judge Wilson granted Local 1776’s preliminary objections and dismissed Phar-Mor’s petition for preliminary injunction. This appeal followed.

The standard of review of an order denying or granting a preliminary injunction is well-established. The focus of this Court’s review is to examine the record to determine if reasonable grounds existed for the court’s action below. Coatesville Development Company v. United Food Workers, 374 Pa.Super. 330, 337, 542 A.2d 1380,1384 (1988) (en banc). A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy and in [398]*398order to sustain a preliminary injunction, it must be shown that the plaintiff has established a clear right to relief sought. Soja v. Factoryville Sportsmen’s Club, 361 Pa.Super. 473, 479, 522 A.2d 1129,1131 (1987). “Only if it is plain that no grounds exist to support the decree or that the rule of law relied upon was misapplied will we interfere with the decision of the chancellor.” Coatesville Development Company v. United Food Workers, 374 Pa.Super. at 337, 542 A.2d at 1384 (citations omitted).

PHK-P, Inc. v. Local 23, 381 Pa.Super. 544, 547, 554 A.2d 519, 520 (1989).

Initially, we note that the present situation falls within the definition of a “labor dispute” under the Act.

The term “labor dispute” includes any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment or concerning employment relations or any other controversy arising out of the respective interests of employer employe, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employe, and regardless of whether or not the employees are on strike with the employer.

43 P.S. § 206c.

An equity court has jurisdiction to grant relief in cases growing out of a labor dispute only where:

(1) unlawful acts have been threatened or committed or will be committed, (2) the employer’s property will sustain substantial and irreparable injury, (3) greater injury will be inflicted upon the employer by the denial of relief than will be inflicted upon labor by granting relief, (4) adequate police protection is unavailable, and (5) there exists no adequate remedy at law.

PHK-P, Inc. v. Local 23, supra, at 550, 554 A.2d at 522; 43 P.S. § 206i(a), (b), (c), (f), and (e). All prerequisites must be met before a court may grant injunctive relief. Giant Eagle [399]*399Markets Co. v. Local Union No. 23, 425 Pa.Super. 186, 624 A.2d 208 (1993).

I. UNLAWFUL ACTS

We find that all the prerequisites for granting injunctive relief have not been met. No unlawful acts have been committed and no threats of unlawful activity have been made. Local 1776 did not obstruct entrances or exits to the Stores and people or property were never at risk of injury. Local 1776 members entered the Phar-Mor Stores, passed out literature and conversed with employees about the benefits of union membership. We are satisfied that the mere scattering of union literature around the Stores and the occurrence of verbal exchanges between Phar-Mor managers and Local 1776 representatives does not constitute unlawful activity for purposes of satisfying 43 P.S. § 206i(a).

We also reject Phar-Mor’s contention that Local 1776’s disregard for Phar-Mor’s posted “no solicitation/no distribution” policy constitutes an unlawful act of criminal trespass for purposes of fulfilling the statutory prerequisite.2 The Stores were open to the public and Local 1776 created no breach of the peace upon entering. With the exception of the few moments when Local 1776 representatives would engage an employee in conversation, Phar-Mor’s ability to transact business was in no way affected. We will not allow Phar-Mor to [400]*400circumvent the Act by alleging “trespass” when Local 1776 acted peacefully, without threat or injury to people or property, and with the purpose of educating and informing employees about Union membership.

II.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Turner Construction v. Plumbers Local 690
130 A.3d 47 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
632 A.2d 913, 429 Pa. Super. 393, 145 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2824, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phar-mor-inc-v-united-food-commercial-workers-union-local-1776-pasuperct-1993.