Overview

Combination and Conspiracy covers the formative era of English labour law from the eighteenth century when organizations of skilled workers emerged from the guild system, to the early twentieth century when national unions used their democratic political power to secure a favourable legal regime. The notorious Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 are placed firmly in the context of the preceding series of statutes for particular trades and places, as well as related to the developing law of conspiracy. This book rescues from obscurity the Molestation of Workmen Act in the mid-nineteenth century, the product of a curious collaboration by trade unionists and Conservative politicians, and integrates it with changing notions of contract as the basis of industrial relations. Finally, the book presents the foundations of modern labour law, the legislation of the 1870s (as amended in 1906), as the culmination of a centuries-long process of statutory and precedential development.

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9780198252993

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Reviews

'This is a closely argued, well-written study.' Robert Pinker, Times Literary Supplement 'succinct book ... It is a superb statement of pre-modern British trade union law, a vital resource for readers who want to know exactly what the law said' American Journal of Legal History 'the book is useful for the historian because it lists and analyses more precisely than ever before all the Acts of Parliament passed on collective labour relations between 1721 and 1906, as well as the most important precedents in the common law of conspiracy ... The book will be of great benefit to anyone wishing to discover how the trade unions in England in the early 20th cenury came to be in such an exceptionally favourable legal position.' German Historical Institute London Bulletin, Volume XVI, No. 1, February 1994 'the book is useful for the historian because it lists and analyses more precisely than ever before all the Acts of Parliament passed on collective labour relations between 1721 and 1906, as well as the most important precedents in the common law of conspiracy ... the book will be of great benefit to anyone wishing to discover how the trade unions in England in the early 20th century came to be in such an exceptionally favourable legal position.' German Historical Institute Bulletin 'the book is useful for the historian because it lists and analyses more precisely than ever before all the Acts of Parliament passed on collective labour relations between 1721 and 1906, as well as the most important precedents in the common law of conspiracy ... The book will be of great benefit to anyone wishing to discover how the trade unions in England in the early 20th century came to be in such an exceptionally favourable legal position.' Willibald Steinmetz, German Historical Institute London Bulletin, Volume XVI, No. 1, February 1994

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