United Telegraph Workers, AFL-CIO v. Western Union Corp.

• Decision Date: 13 September 1985
• Docket Number: AFL-CI,No. 85-5257,AFL-CIO,A,85-5257
• Citation: 771 F.2d 699
• Parties: 120 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2403, 103 Lab.Cas. P 11,636 UNITED TELEGRAPH WORKERS,, and Communication Workers of America,, Appellees, v. WESTERN UNION CORPORATION, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 699

771 F.2d 699

120 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2403, 103 Lab.Cas. P 11,636

UNITED TELEGRAPH WORKERS, AFL-CIO, and Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Appellees, v. WESTERN UNION CORPORATION, Appellant.

No. 85-5257.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued June 21, 1985.

Decided Aug. 26, 1985.

As Amended Sept. 13, 1985.

Isaac N. Groner (argued), Walter H. Fleischer, Alfred F. Belcuore, James A. Bensfield, Cole & Groner, P.C., Washington, D.C., Robert S. Steinbaum, Scarpone & Edelson, P.A., Newark, N.J., for appellee United Telegraph Workers, AFL-CIO.

Ann F. Hoffman, New York City, Steven P. Weissman, Trenton, N.J., for appellee Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO.

Thomas L. Morrissey (argued), Newark, N.J. (Rosemary J. Bruno, John K. Bennett, Newark, N.J., of counsel; Carpenter, Bennett & Morrissey, Newark, N.J., on brief), for appellant.

Before ADAMS, HUNTER, and MANSMANN, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

ADAMS, Circuit Judge.

This case involves the disputed interpretation of a contract between an employer and two unions representing its employees. The district court entered a preliminary injunction supporting the unions' position, but because the court failed to follow the procedural requirements of the Norris-LaGuardia Act the order must be vacated and the case remanded for further proceedings.

I.

In late 1984, appellant Western Union Corporation fell upon difficult financial times. As part of its efforts to resurrect its economic fortunes, it attempted to renegotiate its agreements with two unions representing bargaining unit employees of its wholly owned subsidiary, Western Union Telegraph Company. ¹ The unions, United Telegraph Workers, AFL-CIO, and Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO, had collective bargaining agreements with Western Union covering over 8,000 employees; the latter labor organization represented workers in the New York City metropolitan area and the former covered employees elsewhere in the United States.

The talks resulted in a "Stipulation" between the parties, signed December 14, 1984. It provided for a temporary 10% wage reduction for all bargaining unit employees earning more than $14,000 per year, with no such employee's salary being lowered below $14,000 annually. The wage reduction was to end no later than July 26, 1985.

In return for these labor concessions, Western Union stated its full "support [of] the concept of employee participation in the management and ownership of the Corporation, the details of which will be subjects of negotiations following from this Stipulation." Stip. Sec. 1.8, App. at 19a. A later portion of the agreement expands on this assurance, and forms the basis of the present dispute:

2.1 The parties agree promptly to enter into good faith negotiations with respect to all aspects of the Corporation's financial health, operations and structure, including but not limited to such additional contract modifications and/or supplements as are proposed by the Corporation or the Unions.

2.2 In order to accomplish this goal, any party may retain the necessary consultants to assist it in performing a complete analysis of the aspects of the Corporation mentioned above.

App. at 19a.

Shortly after the Stipulation was signed, the unions began to request access to financial and other company documents, insisting that inspection of such information was mandated by the Stipulation and a necessary prerequisite to the comprehensive negotiations described in that agreement. Western Union, however, took the position that "its commitment to negotiate on employee participation in management was clearly not the functional equivalent of a commitment to give the Unions unrestricted access to the same information given to the highest level of management for performance of management's deliberative and decisional responsibilities." Appellant's Br. at 11. Accordingly, the company denied the unions access to "pre-decisional or deliberative documents." Id. at 28. These documents included future capital expenditure plans; reports from investment bankers, accountants, and other consultants; and future business plans provided to the Western Union Board of Directors.

Essentially, the unions argue that without all the information they requested they will be unable "to enter into good faith negotiations with respect to all aspects of the Corporation's financial health, operations and structure," and therefore that the contract requires such disclosure. Western Union, on the other hand, points to Sec. 1.1 of the Stipulation, which provides that all provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreements remain in force except as affected by the temporary wage reductions. Section 2.01 of the Agreements states that "[t]he management of the Company's business [is] vested in the company...."

On March 25, 1985, the unions filed their complaint in this suit, invoking the district court's jurisdiction under Sec. 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a) (1982), as well as 28 U.S.C. Secs. 1331, 1337 (1982). The plaintiffs pleaded breach of contract by and unjust enrichment of Western Union. They sought a temporary and a permanent injunction to prevent Western Union from transferring any assets or entering into any agreement to transfer assets, to force it to end the wage reductions, to bar it from terminating the employment of any bargaining unit employee except on grounds of personal misconduct, and to compel it to provide the unions with all requested information.

The district court judge held a hearing at which he heard arguments on March 25, 1985 from counsel representing the parties, considered briefs filed by the parties during the following week, and then announced his opinion from the bench on April 8, 1985. He decided that the contract is unambiguous, rejecting Western Union's contention that the agreement preserved the company's managerial prerogatives, and ruling that the unions must be provided with all requested information. The judge denied Western Union's request for an evidentiary hearing at which witnesses could testify, stating that the Norris-LaGuardia Act does not require an evidentiary hearing before issuance of an injunction in a labor dispute if the disputed contract is unambiguous.

One conflict was perceived by the district court as inherent in the contract: "the agreement never contemplated ... that management would have to show to the Union documents which reflected on the management's strategy for later collective bargaining between itself and the Union." App. at 316a. Therefore, the judge ruled that such documents may be withheld, pending his in camera review of all such information. He issued a preliminary injunction on April 12, 1985, ordering the release of all requested information save that related to collective bargaining negotiations. All other requested relief was denied.

On April 15, 1985, Judge John J. Gibbons of this Court entered an interim stay of the district court order in all respects until a panel of this Court could hear any appeal; on April 30, 1985 this Court issued its own stay pending the appeal, and on June 7, 1985 it granted a motion expediting the appeal. We have jurisdiction to review the district court's order granting in part and denying in part a preliminary injunction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(a)(1) (1982). ²

II.

A district court's decision to issue a preliminary injunction is committed to its sound discretion, and must be affirmed unless the court has abused its discretion, committed an obvious error in applying the law, or made a serious mistake in considering the proof. United States v. Price, 688 F.2d 204, 210 (3d Cir.1982). An abuse of discretion is a "clear error of judgment," and not simply a different result which can arguably be obtained when applying the law to the facts of the case. Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 416, 91 S.Ct. 814, 823, 28 L.Ed.2d 136 (1971).

In deciding whether to provide preliminary relief, the district court must consider the probability of irreparable injury to the moving party in the absence of such relief, the possibility of harm to the non-moving party if relief is granted, the likelihood that the moving party will ultimately succeed on the merits, and the public interest. Price, supra, 688 F.2d at 211.

The issuance of preliminary injunctions in cases involving labor disputes is subject to special procedural requirements imposed by the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Notably, Section 7 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 107 (1982), mandates that no injunction shall issue "except after hearing the testimony of witnesses in open court (with opportunity for cross-examination) in support of the allegations of a complaint made under oath, and testimony in opposition thereto, if offered...." ³ Section 1 of the Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 101 (1982), provides that no court of the United States has jurisdiction to issue injunctive relief in these cases unless it complies with these procedural rules.

One clear purpose of Section 7 is to prohibit employers from halting labor strikes through ex parte applications to federal courts, a frequent occurrence at the time the Act was drafted in 1932. But the legislation also reflects a broader goal of more current relevance, to prevent judicial interference in management-labor relations except in narrowly defined circumstances where strict procedures are followed. The overriding purpose of federal labor law is to allow the parties, to the extent possible, to settle their own disputes in accordance with their contractual agreements. See generally Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U.S. 235, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 26 L.Ed.2d 199 (1970); Marine Cooks & Stewards v. Panama Steamship Co., 362 U.S. 365, 80 S.Ct. 779, 4 L.Ed.2d 797 (1960). Thus, while the Norris-LaGuardia Act originally was intended primarily to limit the availability of injunctive relief in labor strikes, see ...