Japhy
Banned
In 1806 the first Labor trial in US History took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when a decade old shoemaker's union was charged with Conspiracy to Interrupt Trade due to their having gone on strike for higher wages and demanding what was becoming a critical workers issue, a 10-hour workday.
The Trial ended badly for the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers, as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did find them guilty of being a conspiracy, this would hang over Unions for the next several decades, for all practical purposes bringing the development of such organizations to a halt.
Only in the 1840's when a Massachusetts court ruling reversed the Pullis decision, and President Van Buren signed an executive order mandating a 10-hour day for Federal laborers, did progress begin again on the front of Labor Rights, and it would take till after the Civil War for major Unions to begin forming.
But, what would happen if the Philadelphia Court had ruled differently, and the rights of workers to organize was not damned under the label that the Pullis decision lay on it?
The Trial ended badly for the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers, as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did find them guilty of being a conspiracy, this would hang over Unions for the next several decades, for all practical purposes bringing the development of such organizations to a halt.
Only in the 1840's when a Massachusetts court ruling reversed the Pullis decision, and President Van Buren signed an executive order mandating a 10-hour day for Federal laborers, did progress begin again on the front of Labor Rights, and it would take till after the Civil War for major Unions to begin forming.
But, what would happen if the Philadelphia Court had ruled differently, and the rights of workers to organize was not damned under the label that the Pullis decision lay on it?