<P> Abraham Lincoln, First Annual Message (1861) </P> <P> Like slavery, common law repression of labor unions was slow to be undone . In 1806, Commonwealth v Pullis held that a Philadelphia shoemakers union striking for higher wages was an illegal "conspiracy", even though corporations - combinations of employers - were lawful . Unions still formed and acted . The first federation of unions, the National Trades Union was established in 1834 to achieve a 10 hour working day, but it did not survive the soaring unemployment from the financial Panic of 1837 . In 1842, Commonwealth v Hunt, held that Pullis was wrong, after the Boston Journeymen Bootmakers' Society struck for higher wages . The first instance judge said unions would "render property insecure, and make it the spoil of the multitude, would annihilate property, and involve society in a common ruin". But in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Shaw CJ held people "are free to work for whom they please, or not to work, if they so prefer" and could "agree together to exercise their own acknowledged rights, in such a manner as best to subserve their own interests ." This stopped criminal cases, although civil cases persisted . In 1869 an organisation called the Knights of Labor was founded by Philadelphia artisans, joined by miners 1874, and urban tradesmen from 1879 . It aimed for racial and gender equality, political education and cooperative enterprise, yet it supported the Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885 which suppressed workers migrating to the US under a contract of employment . Industrial conflicts on railroads and telegraphs from 1883 led to the foundation of the American Federation of Labor in 1886, with the simple aim of improving workers wages, housing and job security "here and now". It also aimed to be the sole federation, to create a strong, unified labor movement . Business reacted with litigation . The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which was intended to sanction business cartels acting in restraint of trade, was applied to labor unions . In 1895, the US Supreme Court in In re Debs affirmed an injunction, based on the Sherman Act, against the striking workers of the Pullman Company . The strike leader Eugene Debs was put in prison . In notable dissent among the judiciary, Holmes J argued in Vegelahn v Guntner that any union taking collective action in good faith was lawful: even if strikes caused economic loss, this was equally legitimate as economic loss from corporations competing with one another . Holmes J was elevated to the US Supreme Court, but was again in a minority on labor rights . In 1905, Lochner v New York held that New York limiting bakers' working day to 60 hours a week violated employers' freedom of contract . The Supreme Court majority supposedly unearthed this "right" in the Fourteenth Amendment, that no State should "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ." With Harlan J, Holmes J dissented, arguing that the "constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory" but is "made for people of fundamentally differing views". On questions of social and economic policy, courts should never declare legislation "unconstitutional". The Supreme Court, however, accelerated its attack on labor in Loewe v. Lawlor, holding that triple damages were payable by a striking union to its employers under the Sherman Act of 1890 . This line of cases was finally quashed by the Clayton Act of 1914 § 6 . This removed labor from antitrust law, affirming that the "labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce" and nothing "in the antitrust laws" would forbid the operation of labor organizations "for the purposes of mutual help". </P> <P> Throughout the early 20th century, states enacted labor rights to advance social and economic progress . But despite the Clayton Act, and abuses of employers documented by the Commission on Industrial Relations from 1915, the Supreme Court struck labor rights down as unconstitutional, leaving management powers virtually unaccountable . In this Lochner era, the Courts held that employers could force workers to not belong to labor unions, that a minimum wage for women and children was void, that states could not ban employment agencies charging fees for work, that workers could not strike in solidarity with colleagues of other firms, and even that the federal government could not ban child labor . It also imprisoned socialist activists, who opposed the fighting in World War One, meaning that Eugene Debs ran as the Socialist Party's candidate for President in 1920 from prison . Critically, the courts held state and federal attempts to create social security to be unconstitutional . Because they were unable to save in safe public pensions, millions of people bought shares in corporations, causing massive growth in the stock market . Because the Supreme Court precluded regulation for good information on what people were buying, corporate promoters tricked people into paying more than stocks were really worth . The Wall Street Crash of 1929 wiped out millions of people's savings . Business lost investment and fired millions of workers . Unemployed people had less to spend with businesses . Business fired more people . There was a downward spiral into the Great Depression . This led to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt for President in 1932, who promised a "New Deal". Government committed to create full employment and a system of social and economic rights enshrined in federal law . But despite the Democratic Party's overwhelming electoral victory, the Supreme Court continued to strike down legislation, particularly the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which regulated enterprise in an attempt to ensure fair wages and prevent unfair competition . Finally, after Roosevelt's second overwhelming victory in 1936, and Roosevelt's threat to create more judicial positions if his laws were not upheld, one Supreme Court judge switched positions . In West Coast Hotel Co v Parrish the Supreme Court found that minimum wage legislation was constitutional, letting the New Deal go on . In labor law, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 guaranteed every employee the right to unionize, collectively bargain for fair wages, and take collective action, including in solidarity with employees of other firms . The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 created the right to a minimum wage, and time - and - a-half overtime pay if employers asked people to work over 40 hours a week . The Social Security Act of 1935 gave everyone the right to a basic pension and to receive insurance if they were unemployed, while the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ensured buyers of securities on the stock market had good information . The Davis--Bacon Act of 1931 and Walsh--Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936 required that in federal government contracts, all employers would pay their workers fair wages, beyond the minimum, at prevailing local rates . To reach full employment and out of depression, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 enabled the federal government to spend huge sums of money on building and creating jobs . This accelerated as World War Two began . In 1944, his health waning, Roosevelt urged Congress to work towards a "Second Bill of Rights" through legislative action, because "unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world" and "we shall have yielded to the spirit of Fascism here at home ." </P> <P> Although the New Deal had created a minimum safety net of labor rights, and aimed to enable fair pay through collective bargaining, a Republican dominated Congress revolted when Roosevelt passed away . Against the veto of President Truman, the Taft - Hartley Act of 1947 limited the right of labor unions to take solidarity action, and enabled states to ban unions requiring all people in a workplace becoming union members . A series of Supreme Court decisions, held the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 not only created minimum standards, but stopped or "preempted" states enabling better union rights, even though there was no such provision in the statute . Labor unions became extensively regulated by the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 . Post-war prosperity had raised people's living standards, but most workers who had no union, or job security rights remained vulnerable to unemployment . As well as the crisis triggered by Brown v Board of Education, and the need to dismantle segregation, job losses in agriculture, particularly among African Americans was a major reason for the civil rights movement, culminating in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led by Martin Luther King Jr...Although Roosevelt's Executive Order 8802 of 1941 had prohibited racial discrimination in the national defense industry, people still suffered discrimination because of their skin color across other workplaces . Also, despite the increasing numbers of women in work, sex discrimination was endemic . The government of John F. Kennedy introduced the Equal Pay Act of 1963, requiring equal pay for women and men . Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1964, finally prohibiting discrimination against people for "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin ." Slowly, a new generation of equal rights laws spread . At federal level, this included the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, now overseen by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission . </P>

There were no genuine labor unions in the united states until