Waits

Plaintiff is a candy manufacturer engaged in interstate commerce. On October 27, 1941, plaintiff and defendant union signed a closed shop agreement to remain in force until April 30, 1942, and from year to year thereafter unless terminated by either party upon written notice at least thirty days before April 30th of any year. None of plaintiff’s employees was a member of the union before the execution of the agreement, but all of them joined thereafter. Neither of the parties ever gave the notice required by the agreement for its termination.

In October, 1942, plaintiff rejected the union’s demand that it discharge nine employees who had lost good standing in the union, and in January, 1943, defendant union initiated proceedings in the National War Labor Board to determine whether the agreement governed the conditions of employment in plaintiff’s business. On May 25, 1943, the Tenth Regional Board of the National War Labor Board, after a hearing, issued a directive order “that the parties to this case comply with the terms of the contract of October 27, 1941, until such time as it shall have been terminated in accordance with its provisions, or by agreement of the parties, or…