The Combinations of Workmen Act 1825 (6 Geo 4 c. 129) was an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...
of the United Kingdom, which prohibited
trade unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
from attempting to
collectively bargain for better terms and conditions at work, and suppressed the
right to strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the In ...
.
Background
The 1825 Act followed on from the
Combination Act 1799
The Combination Act 1799 (39 Geo. III, c. 81) titled An Act to prevent Unlawful Combinations of Workmen, prohibited trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. The Act received royal assent on 12 July 1799. An additional Act, the Co ...
and the
Combination of Workmen Act 1824
In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are t ...
(5 Geo. 4 c. 95). The 1824 Act repealed the Acts of 1799 and 1800, but this led to a wave of strikes. Accordingly, the Combinations of Workmen Act 1825 was passed to reimpose criminal sanctions for picketing and other methods of persuading workers not to work.
Content
This law made illegal any combinations not for the purposes of pressing for wage increases or for a change in working hours.
Repeal
The 1825 Act was recommended for amendment by the majority report of the ''Eleventh and Final Report of the Royal Commissioners appointed to Inquire into the Organisation and Rules of Trade Unions and Other Associations''.
[(1868-1869) Parliamentary Papers vol xxxi, page xxiii] It was wholly displaced by the
Trade Union Act 1871
The Trade Union Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vicc 31 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legalised trade unions for the first time in the United Kingdom. This was one of the founding pieces of legislation in UK labour law, though it ...
.
See also
*
UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...
*
Le Chapelier Law 1791 The ''Le Chapelier Law'' (french: Loi Le Chapelier) was a piece of legislation passed by the National Assembly during the first phase of the French Revolution (14 June 1791), banning guilds as the early version of trade unions, as well as ' (by orga ...
in France sought to do the same
*
The Making of the English Working Class
''The Making of the English Working Class'' is a work of English social history written by E. P. Thompson, a New Left historian. It was first published in 1963 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and republished in revised form in 1968 by Pelican, after ...
by E. P. Thompson
Notes
External links
Text of the Combination Act of 1800
{{UK legislation
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1825
Legal history of the United Kingdom
History of labour law
United Kingdom labour law
1825 in labor relations
Trade union legislation
British trade unions history