Drake Bakeries Incorporated v. Local 50, American Bakery & Confectionery Workers International, Afl-Cio

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Justice White, affirmed the stay of the employer's § 301 damages action pending arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement's broad arbitration clause covered claims for damages from an alleged breach of its no-strike clause, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged one-day strike did not excuse the employer from arbitration. The union had not defaulted in seeking arbitration because it promptly requested a stay after the employer filed suit. Justice Harlan dissented without a stated joinder, finding insufficient evidence that the parties intended to submit the employer's strike-damages claim to arbitration rather than a court; he would have reversed substantially for the reasons in the withdrawn appellate panel opinion. Justice Frankfurter did not participate.