The Combinations of Workmen Act 1825 (
6 Geo. 4. c. 129) was an
act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which prohibited
trade unions
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
from attempting to
collectively bargain for better terms and conditions at work, with the exception of increased wages and better working hours and suppressed the
right to strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, 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 c ...
.
Background
The act followed on from the
Combination Act 1799 (
39 Geo. 3. c. 81) and the
Combination of Workmen Act 1824 (
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 The 1824 act repealed the acts of 1799 and 1800, but this led to a wave of strikes.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.
Provisions
This law made illegal any combinations not for the purposes of pressing for wage increases or for a change in working hours. Nonetheless, unions did now exist in Britain, unlike in continental
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Repealed enactments
Section 1 of the act repealed the
Combination of Workmen Act 1824 (
5 Geo. 4. c. 95).
Section 2 of the act repealed 35 enactments, listed in that section, as well as all acts relative to combinations of workmen or of masters as to wages, time of working, quantity of work, etc.
Repeal
The 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'' in 1869.
[(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 Vict. c. 31) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which greatly expanded the rights of trade unions in the United Kingdom, notably giving them the right to strike. This was one of the founding p ...
(
34 & 35 Vict. c. 31).
The whole act was repealed by section 7 of, and the schedule to, the
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 32) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by William Ewart Gladstone, W. E. Gladstone's Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Government. It was ...
(
34 & 35 Vict. c. 32).
See also
*
UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...
*
Le Chapelier Law 1791 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
References
External links
Text of the Combination Act of 1800
{{Authority control
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1825
Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament
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