The
Combination Laws passed in 1799 made
it illegal for workers to join together to press their employers for
shorter hours or may pay. As a result trade unions were thus effectively
made illegal. The campaign against this legislation was led by the
trade union leader, Francis Place. In the
House of Commons, Joseph Hume and Sir
Francis Burdett led the fight against the Combination
Laws.
The legislation remained in force until they were repealed in 1824.
This was followed by an outbreak of strikes and as a result and further
legislation was passed. The 1825 Combination Act narrowly defined
the rights of trade unions as meeting to bargain over wages and conditions.
Anything outside these limits was liable to prosecution as criminal
conspiracy in restraint of trade. Trade unionists were not allowed
to "molest", "obstruct", or intimidate" others.
This law worried trade unionists as everything depended on how judges
interpreted vague words like obstruct
and intimidate.
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