Spica v. International Ladies Garment Workers' Union

130 A.2d 468, 388 Pa. 382, 1957 Pa. LEXIS 462, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2701
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 29, 1957
DocketAppeal, No. 241
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 130 A.2d 468 (Spica v. International Ladies Garment Workers' Union) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spica v. International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, 130 A.2d 468, 388 Pa. 382, 1957 Pa. LEXIS 462, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2701 (Pa. 1957).

Opinions

Opinion by

Mb. Justice Chidsey,

The sole but important question presented by this appeal derives from a preliminary objection filed by the defendant International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, hereinafter called the International, that service of process upon the Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia Dress Joint Board, International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union, hereinafter called the Joint Board, at the Joint Board Headquarters in Philadelphia, was insufficient to properly bring the International before the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County.

The International is an unincorporated labor union having its main headquarters in New York City. The Joint Board is an aggregation of Local Unions of the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union in the Philadelphia area having its headquarters in a building on North Broad Street in Philadelphia, which building also serves as headquarters for the Local Unions.

Josephine Spica, the plaintiff, brought this action in equity against the International and against William Boss, Business Manager of the Joint Board, alleging that the defendants had wrongfully caused her removal as Business Agent of Local 15, to which office she had been elected in accord with the Constitution and By-Laws of the International. Her removal came after a hearing before the Board of Directors of the Joint Board on July 27, 1954, and ivas affirmed by the General Executive Board of the International on October 8, 1954.

Service was made by a Philadelphia Deputy Sheriff delivering a copy of the complaint to one Abraham Bloomfield, Secretary-Treasurer of the Joint Board, at the headquarters on North Broad Street in Philadelphia.

[385]*385Defendants’ preliminary objection alleged that the court had no jurisdiction over the International since service of process upon the latter was invalid in that the North Broad Street building is not a place of business of the International, that Mr. Bloomfield is not an officer, employe or agent of the International, and the International neither conducts any business at the North Broad Street building nor has any agents, employes or officers at that location. In support of this objection, depositions were taken of the Assistant Executive Secretary of the International and of Mr. Bloomfield, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Joint Board.

The court below, in an opinion by President Judge Lewis, held that service upon the International was valid, that the court had jurisdiction, and overruled the preliminary objection. This appeal by the International followed.

The requirements of service upon an unincorporated labor union are prescribed by Pennsylvania Buie of Civil Procedure 2157(a), which reads: “(a) Service of process upon an officer or a registered agent of an association, or upon the manager, clerk or other person for the time being in charge of any place where such association regularly conducts any business or association activity shall be deemed service upon the association, provided that the person served is not a plaintiff in the action.”.

It is admitted that Abraham Bloomfield is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Joint Board, and it appears that he is not directly “ an officer or a registered agent of” the International, unless it can be said that, for purposes of Pa. B. C. P. 2157(a) he is “an officer” of the International by virtue of his office with the Joint Board. It is unnecessary to so decide if it be found that the International “regularly conducts any [386]*386business or association activity” at the North Broad Street office in Philadelphia, for it is not disputed that Mr. Bloomfield upon whom service was made, was “for the time being in charge” of that office. The position taken by appellant is that the general office of the International is in New York City, that it has no office in Philadelphia, nor that there is “any place” in Philadelphia where it “regularly conducts any business or association activity”.

An examination of the International’s Constitution and By-Laws is most pertinent. The object of the International is set out in Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution and By-Laws, “The object of the I.L.G.W.U. shall be to obtain and preserve for all workers engaged in the ladies’ garment industry just and reasonable conditions of work with respect to wages, work hours and other terms of employment; to secure sanitary surroundings in their places of work and humane treatment on the part of the employers; to aid needy workers in the industry; to cultivate friendly relations between them and generally to improve their material and intellectual standards. Such objects shall be accomplished through negotiations and collective agreements with employers, the presentation, adjustment and settlement of justified grievances of workers against employers, the dissemination of knowledge by means of publications and lecture courses, through concerted efforts to organize the unorganized workers in all branches of the industry and through all other lawful and peaceable means and methods customarily employed by organized workers to maintain or better their standards of life.”. The membership of the International “shall consist of individual workers organized in Local Unions in the manner provided in this Constitution”, Article 1, Section 4. The Local Unions are chartered by the International, provided [387]*387that “(a) The charter and outfit granted to a [Local Union] shall always remain the property of the [International] to be used by the [Local Union] as long as such [Local Union] and its members comply with the Constitution and By-laws of the [International].”, Article 1, Section 6. The same article and section further provides that “(c) All funds and other property of [Local Unions] shall be and remain the property of the [International], but may be used by [Local Unions] for their associate purposes so long as they remain affiliated with the [International].”.

Article 8, pertaining to membership, states: “Section 7. All members of the [Local Union] are primarily members of the [International] and subject to the orders, rulings and decisions of the [International] and the properly constituted authorities of the same. Section 7-A. By joining the [International], a member irrevocably designates and authorizes the [Local Union] or [Joint Board] or [District Council] to which he belongs, and the [International], to act exclusively as his agent and representative for the presentation, adjustment and settlement of all grievances against his employers and all other matters relating to terms and conditions of employment or arising out of the employer-employee relationship.”.

While the supreme governing body of the International is the triennial convention, the effective interim control lies with the General Executive Board, under whose direction the President acts. Its authority is set forth in Article 4: “Section 3. The [General Executive Board] shall have general supervision over all the affairs of the [International] and shall have power to authorize strikes in accordance with this Constitution, issue charters, reprove and punish subordinate locals for violations of this Constitution or for misconduct; to take charge of and to supervise the elec[388]

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130 A.2d 468, 388 Pa. 382, 1957 Pa. LEXIS 462, 39 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spica-v-international-ladies-garment-workers-union-pa-1957.