On this day in labor history, the year was 1908.
That was the day the Supreme Court ruled on the Loewe V. Lawlor case, also known as the Danbury Hatter’s Case.
In 1902, the United Hatters of North America attempted to organize the fur hat company, D.E. Loewe & Company.
Loewe refused to meet with the union.
The union struck and called for a nationwide boycott of Loewe hats.
The AFL assisted in popularizing the boycott.
They worked to convince retailers and customers not to buy from Loewe.
The company sued the union’s business agent and hundreds of its members.
Loewe claimed the union violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by interfering with interstate commerce.
The Sherman Act had been designed to control business monopolies, trusts and cartels, like Standard Oil company.
An 1893 case, United States v. Workingmen’s Amalgamated Council of New Orleans, established that the Sherman Act applied to labor unions as well.
In the Danbury Hatter’s Case, the Supreme Court ruled that the union combined to restrain trade or commerce among several states.
The union countered by arguing that the union did not interfere with the transportation of hats and were not themselves engaged in interstate commerce.
But the union lost.
In addition to violating the Sherman Act, the Court argued that individual union members could be held personally liable for damages incurred by their union.
The union was eventually held liable in damages amounting to about $235,000.
The AFL pushed back, demanding reforms in the Sherman Act.
Partial reforms came with the Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914.
But it would be another 20 years before the Norris-LaGuardia Act would exempt organized labor from antitrust injunctions.
July 2 - A Foul Blot Upon the Labor Movement
July 1 - The Po-Boy is Born
June 30 - Convict Lease System Ends in Alabama
June 29 - Fighting Insurmountable Odds
June 28 - Harry Bridges Act Signed into Law
June 27 - Founding of the IWW
June 26 - Milwaukee Transit Workers Join the ‘34 Strike Wave
June 25 - Congress Pushes for Wartime Labor Repression
June 24 - Striking Against Taft-Hartley
June 23 - Legislating Labor’s Destruction
June 22 - A Long Road to Victory
June 21 - Miners Push Back Against Starvation Wages
June 20 - UAW Wins a First Contract at Ford
June 19 - The Fight to Free the Hawaii Seven
June 18 - The Battle of Ballantyne Pier
June 17 - IWW Strikes Studebaker
June 16 - Debs Rails Against War in Canton
June 15 - Violence Erupts in the Valley of Steel
June 14 - Miners Bolster SWOC with Solidarity Strike
June 13 - Tony Mazzocchi is Born
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