In the 1969 case of Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpet, Linoleum, Soft Tile & Resilient Floor Covering Layers, Local Union No. 419, AFL-CIO et al., the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sears and against a local union that had picketed outside one of its stores to protest non-union contract work being performed inside. The court held that under federal labor law (the National Labor Relations Act), state courts have jurisdiction to enjoin such picketing when it is aimed at obtaining recognition from an employer who has already recognized another labor organization and where there is no existing labor dispute between the protesting union and the employer. This decision clarified how federal preemption principles apply in cases involving peaceful recognitional or organizational picketing by a minority union not currently representing employees but seeking to do so.

In the dissenting opinion for Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Carpet, Linoleum, Soft Tile & Resilient Floor Covering Layers, Local Union No. 419 case in 1969, Justice Black disagreed with the majority's decision to deny enforcement of an arbitration award favoring the union on grounds that it was contrary to public policy and exceeded arbitrator’s powers under collective bargaining agreement (CBA). He argued that this approach undermines faith in arbitration as a means of settling labor disputes by allowing courts to second-guess decisions made by arbitrators who are chosen precisely because they have expertise in interpreting CBAs. The justice believed that unless there is clear evidence of fraud or dishonesty from an arbitrator or if their interpretation is completely irrational and not drawn from essence of CBA itself - which he did not believe was true here - then court should enforce their awards without interference.