156 Misc. 476 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1935
This is an application for a temporary injunction against the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 138, to restrain it from refusing to recognize the plaintiff as a member in good standing, from depriving him of his rights as a member of the union and to vacate, rescind and set aside his fine and suspension from the union. It amply appears from an examination of the affidavits submitted in support of the motion that the plaintiff has been arbitrarily and unlawfully ousted from his membership in the union without the hearing guaranteed to him by its constitu
The defendants rely chiefly upon the claimed lack of jurisdiction in this court to grant a temporary injunction because of the provisions of section 876-a of the Civil Practice Act (added by Laws of 1935, chap. 477). That section was enacted for the purpose of curing abuses that had theretofore existed and by which the use of the temporary injunction had become a familiar weapon of employers in disputes with their employees and had been used by them as a means of coercing employees and breaking strikes. I am of the opinion that the Legislature in passing this beneficial amendment to the Civil Practice Act did not contemplate placing a restriction upon the courts which would prevent them from interfering at the behest of an ousted workman against a labor organization which had unlawfully interfered with bis rights.
Reliance is placed by the defendants on paragraph (a) of subdivision 10 of the section wherein it is provided that “ a case shall be held to involve or to grow out of a labor dispute when the case involves persons who are engaged in the same industry, trade, craft or occupation, or who are employees of one employer; * * * whether such dispute is between one or more employers or associations of employers and one or more employees or associations of employees.” The defendant labor union would have the comb read that section as if there came within the prohibition of the Legislabure any matter in which a labor union or employees’ association is involved. A careful analysis of the subdivision in question clearly demonstrates that the Legislature in fact did not intend the section to be that broad and sweeping. It is necessary to read subdivision 10 as an entirety in order to define the intent of paragraph (a) thereof. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 10 defines a labor dispute as “ 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 oub of the respective interests of employer and employee, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in relation of employer and employee.” The present case does not come within this definition of a labor dispute since the terms or