Laufman v. Hall-Mack Co.

KINGSLEY, J.

This is an appeal from an order of the superior court, made pursuant to section 1281.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, granting a request of a labor union for arbitration of a dispute concerning the discharge of two employees. Contending that the matter thus submitted to arbitration was not arbitrable under the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, the employer has appealed.

Under California procedure an order directing arbitration, not being one of those orders listed in section 1294 of the Code of Civil Procedure, is not appealable.

(Falloon

v.

Caledonian Ins. Co.

(1958) 161 Cal.App.2d 522 [327 P.2d 18];

Corbett

v.

Petroleum Maintenance Co.

(1953) 119 Cal.App.2d 21 [258 P.2d 1077];

Jardine-Matheson Co., Ltd.

v.

Pacific Orient Co.

(1929) 100 Cal.App. 572 [280 P. 697].) While these cases were decided under section 1293 of the code prior to the 1961 revision of the arbitration law, they apply equally to section 1294 which, in the revision, replaced the older section. As the court said in the

Jar dine

case, at pages 575-576:

“. . . the fact that the legislature saw fit to specify in one code section the different orders and judgment from which appeals may be taken clearly indicates, in our opinion, an intention to restrict the appeals in such proceeding to the orders and judgment therein specified; and the obvious reason for not including among such appealable orders the one which directs the parties to proceed with the arbitration was that if at the very threshold of the proceeding the defaulting party could appeal and thereby indefinitely delay the matter of arbitration, the object of the law and the purpose of the written agreement of the parties would be entirely defeated. ’ ’

However, appellant argues that the appealability of the order is to be determined by section 301 of the National Labor Relations Act and not by section 1294 of the Code of Civil