Vastola

Plaintiffs are the owners, respectively, of a small neighborhood dry cleaning establishment and of a coin-operated laundromat, both operated at the same address. They filed suit 1 to enjoin defendant union and its officers and affiliates from picketing their place of business as part of an effort to induce plaintiffs to sign a contract with the union. After a hearing, which included the consideration of conflicting affidavits and oral argument, a preliminary injunction was denied. The present appeal followed.

It is conceded that the picketing was lawful, and that it could not constitutionally be enjoined, if its purpose was to accomplish a legitimate union objective. Plaintiffs contend here that, in this case, the objective was not legitimate. They claim that they each operate a one-man business, without employees ; that neither plaintiff has ever had an employee; that neither plaintiff contemplates having any employee in the future; and that there is no basis for anticipating that either will have an employee in the reasonably predictable future. Neither plaintiff is eligible for membership in defendant union. The contract tendered to them is, thus, what is usually known as a…