Why was a combination of people to increase wages or lower hours illegal in Canada before 1872?

Before 1872, a combination of people to increase wages or lower hours was seen as obstructive to trade and commerce. In legal terms, this was called acting in restraint of trade and was illegal.

In Britain, it had been illegal since 1721 to combine for the purpose of raising wages. Combination Laws were passed in 1800, which banned combinations of people or any meetings about combination relating to hours of work, wages, or employment conditions. The laws were partly repealed in 1824 so that unions could form but they could not use violence, threats, intimidation, molestation, or obstruction to make others join a union or to make employers change the way they did business. Later laws in 1871 and 1875 freed union members from prosecution for criminal conspiracy, and allowed actions by a combination if they furthered a trade dispute as long as the act was not illegal if done by an individual.

When the Toronto printers were charged with conspiracy in 1872, courts determined that the British law of 1871 did not apply in Canada, so that unions were still essentially unlawful.

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