Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, a Corporation v. Communications Workers of America, an Unincorporated Association

Appellant is a Washington corporation engaged in the business of transmitting communications in interstate commerce. Appellee is the labor organization which, under collective bargaining contract, represents appellant’s employees. Appellant has brought this suit under § 301(a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a)) seeking a declaration that it has no obligation under the terms of its collective bargaining contract to submit to arbitration a specific dispute now existing between the parties.

The district court held that the dispute was one which the parties were re quired to arbitrate under their agreement. In so ruling it excluded from evidence history of the bargaining from which the contract resulted.

Appellant here contends (1) that the arbitration clause of the contract upon its face excludes this dispute from its application, (2) that the arbitration clause should be construed in the light of bargaining history and that the district court erred in refusing to consider evidence of such history.

The underlying dispute relates to the company’s right to discipline its employees by suspension. An employee, Johnson, had violated a company rule by…