''Commonwealth v. Pullis'', 3 Doc. Hist. 59 (1806) was a

US labor law United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the United States. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "org ...

case, and the first reported case arising from a

labor 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 I ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It decided that striking workers were illegal conspirators.

Facts

In 1794,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

shoemakers organized the "Federal Society of

Journeymen A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

Cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

s" (the name came from the cordovan leather they worked with) in an effort to secure stable wages. Over the next decade, the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

secured some wage increases. Through 1804, the Journeymen received moderate wage increases. In 1805, the union struck for higher wages. The strike collapsed after the union leaders were

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

for the crime of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

Trial

The jury trial was in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Court, which was not a court of record. The only report historians have today consists of

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

notes by Thomas Lloyd, a young Jeffersonian printer who later published the proceedings. Eight leaders of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers were brought to trial and accused of conspiring to increase their pay rates after leading an unsuccessful strike for higher wages. The employers, not the government, paid the prosecution's expenses. The arguments in ''Pullis'' promoted the idea '"that workers were transitory, irresponsible, and dangerous", and were, thus, properly the subject of judicial control.

Judgment

After a three-day trial, the jury found the defendants guilty of "a combination to raise their wages". The union of Philadelphia Journeymen Shoemakers was convicted of and bankrupted by charges of criminal conspiracy. The defendants were fined US$8 each (the cost of one week's wages) and made to pay the costs of the suit. The law established in this case, that labor unions are illegal conspiracies, would remain the law until '' Commonwealth v. Hunt'', tried in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Supreme Judicial Court.

References

{{Reflist, 1 Pennsylvania state case law United States labor case law 1806 in United States case law 1806 in Pennsylvania Shoemaking History of Philadelphia Labor disputes in Pennsylvania Textile and clothing labor disputes in the United States Law articles needing an infobox

Facts

Trial

Judgment

See also

References