In the not-so-distant days when working people began to combine in the furtherance of their mutual interest, it was possible for men to be indicted for what is even yet regarded in some quarters as the heinous offence of "a conspiracy among themselves to raise their wages".
The persistence of this refusal to concede that the labourer is worthy of his hire resulted in years of conflict when everything wrung from grudging legislatures by the growing strength of the trade union movement tended to be taken away by the Courts.
In their lucid account of the activities of lawyers and Courts from the time of the Combination Acts, the authors recount the story of the gradually victorious struggle for the establishment of trade unions as fully legal institutions—the Taff Vale Case and the passing of the Trade Disputes Act of 1906—the fight for the recognition of the right of peaceful picketing, the General Strike of 1926, the repressive legislation of 1927 and its subsequent repeal in 1946.
An extremely valuable recording of historic events of great importance to lawyers and trade unionists alike.
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