Torquay Hotel Company Ltd v Cousins
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS,LORD JUSTICE RUSSELL,LORD JUSTICE WINN |
| Judgment Date | 17 December 1968 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1968] EWCA Civ J1217-1 |
| Date | 17 December 1968 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
[1968] EWCA Civ J1217-1
The Master of the Rolls (Lord Denning)
Lord Justice Russell and
Lord Justice Winn
In The Supreme Court of Judicature
Court of Appeal
Appeal by defendants from judgment of Mr. Justice Stamp dated 23rd May, 1968 granting the plaintiffs an interlocutory injunction.
Mr. PETER PAIN, Q.C., Mr. K.W. WEDDERBURN and Mr. M. DALY (instructed by Messrs. Pattinson & Brewer) appeared on behalf of the Appellants.
Mr. A.R. CAMPBELL, Q.C., Mr. PETER BRUCE and Miss HILARY BARKER (instructed by Messrs. Herbert Smith & Co.) appeared on behalf of the Respondents.
The Imperial Hotel is one of the finest hotels in Torquay. It is owned by the Torquay Hotel Company Limited. The Managing Director is Mr. Chapman. It gets all its fuel oil by contract from the Esso Petroleum Company.
The Transport and General Workers Union is a registered trade union. I will call it the Transport Union. It has members in many trades. In particular, most drivers of oil tankers are members. So are some of the cooks and waiters in hotels. Mr. Frank Cousins is the General Secretary of the whole Union. Mr. Ray is in charge of the group which includes hotel workers. They are both at the London headquarters. Mr. Nethercott is the Regional Secretary for the South Western Region. His headquarters are at Bristol. Mr. Pedley is the District Secretary for the Exeter District. His headquaters are at Exeter. All those are full-time paid officials of the Union. Mr. Lettis is the Branch Secretary at Torquay. He works as a waiter at hotels in Torquay. He is not a paid official.
Until recently the hotel workers in Torquay were not very keen on joining trade unions. But those who were keen joined a trade union called the National Union of General and Municipal Workers. I will call it the General Workers Union. This Union held the field in Torquay until 1967. But then the Transport Union tried to recruit members in the hotels at Torquay. They recruited 80 workers at the Palace Hotel, and in August, 1967, after a strike, persuaded the management of that hotel to recognise the Transport Union as authorised to negotiate on behalf of their members. By December 1967 the Transport Union had recruited 400 members in Torquay. On 1st January 1968, these formed themselves into a branch.
The dispute with the Torbay Hotel.
During the week beginning 23rd January, 1968, Mr. Pedley, the District Secretary of the Transport Union, tried to get the Torbay Hotel to recognise the Transport Union. On 25th January,the Managing Director refused, because he was, he said, in active negotiation with the other Union, the General Workers Union. Mr. Pedley then consulted his senior officials and they decided to call a strike at the Torbay Hotel. It was to start on Saturday, 28th January, 1968.
But the night before, on Friday, 27th January, 1968, the Transport Union held a dinner-dance at the Palace Court Hotel, Torquay, to celebrate the opening of the Torquay branch. It was attended by Mr. Cousins, Mr. Nethercott from Bristol and others. Those present listened to speeches by Mr. Cousins, Mr. Nethercott and Mr. Lettis. Mr. Cousins told them: "You will have a struggle for recognition but at least you know you got through the first round" (referring, I expect to the strike at the Palace Hotel in August 1967). No doubt, at that time Mr. Cousins and Mr. Nethercott knew of the arrangements to call a strike at the Torbay Hotel: for it was to start the very next day, 28th January, 1968. Indeed, on Saturday evening, 28th January, Mr. Cousins saw Mr. Nethercott in Bristol and Mr. Cousins told Mr. Nethercott that the Union would support the men on strike. That meant that they would receive strike pay. On Monday, 30th January, 1968, Mr. Pedley wrote to the manager of the Torbay Hotel saying: "In view of your refusal to meet me on matters concerning our membership, I am under instructions from my Regional Secretary, Mr. Nethercott, to inform you that this organisation (the Transport Union) is in official dispute with your hotel".
In consequence of this dispute, the Torquay Hotel Association met and on 1st February, 1968, advised their members in these terms: "There is no doubt that most workers in the Union were perfectly happy with prevailing conditions and wore not desirous of joining any union, but in face of the threat to our industry by the Transport Union, your executive would earnestly advise all hotel managements to encourage their staff to join the General Workers Union. This is an inter-union dispute, of which we are the innocent victims".
The banquet at the Imperial Hotel.
On Friday, 2nd February, 1968, there was a Mayor's banquet at the Imperial Hotel. None of the workers at this hotel was a member of the Transport Union. The banquet finished at about 10.30 p.m. The managing director, Mr. Chapman, was making his way out of the crowded dining-room when he was approached by a newspaper reporter. The reporter asked Mr. Chapman: "How do the hoteliers feel about the action of the Transport Union" Mr. Chapman replied: "Some of those affected feel strongly. They can only take a certain amount of knocks before they will have to defend themselves. They feel they must make a stand". The reporter did not tell Mr. Chapman that he was going to publish these remarks.
The next day, Saturday, 3rd February, the Western Morning News came out with a report which set things alight. It said: "Mr. Michael Chapman, managing director at Torquay five- star Imperial Hotel, said last night that the Hotels' Association were now determined to stamp out the intervention of the Transport Union into the hotel trade. 'You can only take so much before you have to make a stand, and do something, and this we are going to do".
The Torquay members of the Transport Union were furious at these remarks of Mr. Chapman as reported in the newspaper. They picketed the Imperial Hotel. Mr. Lettis, the Branch Secretary, says: "The reaction to the report of Mr. Chapman's statement was spontaneous. Pickets posted themselves at the Imperial Hotel with the object of information to those having business at the Imperial Hotel that the hotel management was in dispute with the Branch".
After the newspaper report, Mr. Pedley, the District Secretary, also became active. He went to Torquay. At 3 p.m. on the Saturday afternoon he telephoned to the Esso Company at Plymouth. That is the bulk plant which supplies oil-fuel to the Imperial Hotel. Mr. Pedley spoke to the shift supervisor, whotook down this message:- "Mr. Priistley (sic) (Union representative) "phoned this plant today to advise that there is an official dispute with the Imperial Hotel, Torquay. Any supplies of fuel will be stopped being made. 15.00 hours, 3rd February, 1968".
In saying this, Mr. Pedley knew what would happen. Once the pickets were posted outside the Imperial Hotel (in support of the Transport Union) none of the drivers of the oil tankers would take his tanker across those picket lines (because the drivers were members of the same Transport Union. It is common knowledge that the drivers would not cross the picket lines.
Mr. Pedley also saw newspaper reporters and told them: "We are pleased that Mr. Chapman has come out into the open against us because we think he is the real nigger in the woodpile, preventing us from making progress". The newspaper reporters saw Mr. Chpaman, who denied that he had intervened. The newspaper reporters saw Mr. Pedley, who said: "He has intervened. That means sanctions and every means at our disposal will be used. We can cut off supplies at source and we are going to do that. I will put out a public warning now - we are quite prepared to put an embargo on any hotelier who intervenes".
On the next day, Sunday, 4th February, the "Sunday Telegraph" published those remarks, with the comment: "A bewildered Mr. Chapman denied he had made a public statement which could be regarded as intervention. 'We are not involved', he said".
On Monday, 5th February, Mr. Chapman telephoned Mr. Bevan, the manager of the Esso Company at Bristol, and gave an order for 500 gallons of Esso Extra petrol, and also asked him what arrangements could be made for delivering fuel-oil. The Bristol Manager of Esso telephoned their London headquarters, who telephoned Transport House, the headquarters of the Transport Union. He said: "Is the strike at Torquay official? We are told that your local man telephoned our bulk plant at Plymouthand told them it was official". The headquarters office of Transport House said: "The strike is official". This information was passed back to Mr Evans at Bristol. He telephoned Mr. Chapman and told him that supplies to the Imperial were "blocked" and that he could do nothing to help him. This was followed up by a letter a day or two later from Mr. Bevan to Mr. Chapman, saying: "I refer to your recent esteemed order, but very much regret that we are unable to execute delivery owing to circumstances beyond our control". Those circumstances were clearly these: The Esso drivers were all members of the Transport Union and would not cross the picket lines outside the hotel. Oil supplies from Alternative Fuels.
Being unable to get supplies of fuel-oil from Esso, Mr. Chapman tried to get supplies from elsewhere. After much difficulty, he found a firm in Cheshire, called Alternative Fuels Limited, who got oil from various sources, and whose drivers were not members of the Transport Union. They asked a price 50% higher than the usual price. But, nevertheless, in order to get supplies, Mr. Chapman ordered 3,000 gallons from Alternative...
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