Holly Sugar Corp. v. Distillery, Rectifying, Wine & Allied Workers Int'l Union, Afl-Cio

Again we meet a problem concerning enforcement of arbitration awards. The appellant employer, Holly Sugar, insists that the award should not be enforced because the arbitrator, in making it, exceeded his powers as defined by the bargaining agreement. The District Court rejected the argument and declared the award binding in all respects. We affirm.

The parties to the bargaining compact are the three major producers of Cali fornia beet sugar (Holly Sugar Corporation, American Sugar Corporation, Spreckels Company) and several unions affiliated with the United Sugar Workers Council of California and the Distillery, Rectifying, Wine and Allied Workers International Union, AFL-CIO (hereinafter the “Union”). The bargaining agreements apply to a number of processing plants of these three companies and contain virtually identical provisions. For each plant, however, there is a separate list of jobs and corresponding wage rates which vary according to the needs of a particular factory. The instant controversy pertains to a time period covered by two successive bargaining agreements and concerns a disagreement as to the proper wage and job classification for one Harold Zimmer, an employee…