Three Chefs, Inc. v. Waiters' & Waitresses' Union, Local 301

28 Pa. D. & C.2d 257, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 143
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedApril 26, 1962
Docketno. 3000
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 28 Pa. D. & C.2d 257 (Three Chefs, Inc. v. Waiters' & Waitresses' Union, Local 301) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Three Chefs, Inc. v. Waiters' & Waitresses' Union, Local 301, 28 Pa. D. & C.2d 257, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 143 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1962).

Opinion

Reimel, J.,

This matter comes before the court on defendants’ exceptions to the chancellor’s adjudication enjoining defendants from picketing plaintiff’s premises.

Plaintiffs, on November 14, 1960, instituted an action in equity seeking injunctive relief against picketing by defendants of a restaurant and that part of a shopping center in which the restaurant is located. A hearing on a rule for a preliminary injunction was held, from which an injunction issued restraining the pickets pending final hearing. Thereafter, the parties stipulated that the court consider the testimony taken on the rule for preliminary injunction as on final hearing. Thereto, forthwith, the court rendered its adjudication decreeing that the injunction issue perpetually, to which adjudication defendants have filed exceptions.

Defendants Selma Wright and Catherine Kazana were discharged on November 7,1960. After their discharge they appealed to Local 301 for assistance in obtaining reinstatement. Mr. Turchi, business manager of the union, called plaintiff, represented to him that Local 301 represented a majority of Three Chefs’ employes, and attempted to persuade plaintiff to reinstate the discharged employes under threat of strike. Upon Three Chefs’ refusal to yield to the union’s demands, picketing was instituted.

The union contends that the issuance of the injunction was improper and unauthorized. In support of its contentions, the union asserts that the findings of fact and conclusions of law by the learned chancellor were in error; that because a labor dispute existed and the union represented a majority of Three Chefs’ em[259]*259ployes, the Labor Anti-Injunction Act of June 2, 1937, P.L. 1198, sec. 1, as amended by the Act of June 9, 1939, P.L. 302, sec. 1, et. seq., 43 PS §206a, prevented the issuance of the injunction; and that the picketing was constitutionally protected because it was for the-lawful purpose of organization.

Three Chefs contends that no labor dispute existed; that the union did not represent a majority of the employes; that the Anti-Injunction Act did not apply; and that the true purpose of the picketing was coercion, of the employer by the union.

. The chancellor found that no controversy of any kind existed between Local 301 and Three Chefs prior to the picketing. An examination of the testimony leads us to the same conclusion. The evidence reveals that the union and Three Chefs had not one iota of contact prior to the time when Selma Wright and Catherine Kazana were discharged, and further, that prior to their discharge, there was no union activity at the Three Chefs restaurant. The union’s contention that the waitresses were discharged because of union activity is not borne out by the evidence. Although there appeared to be no specific precipitating event which prompted the discharge, it is clear that Selma Wright and Catherine Kazana were unsatisfactory waitresses in the eyes of their employer, which was sufficient reason for their dismissal.

The union further contends that the picketing should not have and could not have been enjoined because it represented a majority of the employes: section 4 of the Labor Anti-Injunction Act of 1937, P.L. 1198, as amended by the Act of June 9, 1939, P.L. 302, sec. 1, 43 PS §206d.

The learned chancellor specifically found that the union did not represent a majority, and the evidence does not reveal that a majority of the employes were members of the union. There is testimony to the effect [260]*260that application cards were signed by some employes. However there is no evidence as to whether these application were ever accepted or dues paid. It is particularly curious to note that many of the applicants were induced to sign application cards because of misrepresentations and mendacious statements and that when these prevarications were revealed numerous employes withdrew. The union’s explanation of those prevaricating statements was that it was the usual puffing of union advantages and customary organizing tactics.

In Anchorage, Inc. v. Waiters & Waitresses Union, 383 Pa. 547, 550 (1956), the court, in an opinion by the then Chief Justice Horace Stern, held: “. . . The object of picketing is unlawful and therefore enjoin-able if its purpose is to coerce the employer to compel or require his employes to join the union: International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, Local 309 v. Hanke, 339 U. S. 470; Wilbank v. Chester and Delaware Counties Bartenders, Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, 360 Pa. 48, 52, 60 A. 2d 21, 23; Garner v. Teamsters, Chauffeurs and Helpers, Local Union No. 776, 373 Pa. 19, 22, 94 A. 2d 893, 895; Baderak v. Building and Construction Trades Council, 380 Pa. 477, 482, 112 A. 2d 170, 173. The Labor Anti-Injunction Act of June 2, 1937, P.L. 1198, §4, as amended, excepts from its prohibition against the issuing of an injunction cases ‘Where a majority of the employes have not joined a labor organization, . . . and any labor organization . . . engages in a course of conduct intended or calculated to coerce an employer to compel or require his employes to prefer or become members of or otherwise join any labor organization.’

“The object of picketing is unlawful and therefore enjoinable if its purpose is to coerce the employer to bargain with a non-representative union and sign a [261]*261contract with it which would interfere with his employes’ right to choose their own bargaining representative: Building Service Employees International Union, Local 262 v. Gazzam, 339 U.S. 532; cf. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. National Labor Relations Board, 341 U.S. 694. The Labor Anti-Injunction Act of June 2, 1937, P. L. 1198, §4, as amended, excepts from its prohibition against the issuing of an injunction cases ‘Where any . . . labor organization . . . engages in a course of conduct intended or calculated to coerce an employer to commit a violation of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act of 1937 or of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935,’ and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act of June 1, 1937, P.L. 1168, §6, as amended, provides that ‘It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer— (a) to interfere with, restrain or coerce employes in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in this act’; such a right being (§5) ‘the right to self-organization, ... to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.’ It is also declared to be an unfair labor practice (§6 (c)) for an employer ‘By discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment, or any term or condition of employment, to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization.’
“Picketing may be enjoined if one of its objects is unlawful, even though not the sole object; National Labor Relations Board v. Denver Building and Construction Trades Council, 341 U.S. 675, 689; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. National Labor Relations Board, 341 U.S. 694, 700; Local 74, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, A. F. of L. v. National Labor Relations Board, 341 U.S. 707, 713.”

The chancellor found, in his conclusions of law, that the picketing has an unlawful object and is there[262]

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Related

Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board v. Three Chefs, Inc.
192 A.2d 385 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1963)

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28 Pa. D. & C.2d 257, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/three-chefs-inc-v-waiters-waitresses-union-local-301-pactcomplphilad-1962.