Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 1971

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, Afl-Cio v. Flair Builders, Inc.

Decided May 30, 1972. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-41 · 406 U.S. 487 (1972) · Cited 208 times

Holding

As the District Court found, the parties did agree to arbitrate and, the existence and scope of an arbitration clause being matters for judicial decision, the phrase 'any difference' encompasses the issue of laches within the broad sweep of its arbitration coverage.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).