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The Hobbs Act , codified at 18 U.S.C.   § 1951 , is a United States federal law enacted in 1946 that prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion that affects interstate or foreign commerce, as well as conspiracies to do so. The Act is named for United States Representative Sam Hobbs ( D - AL ).

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97-546: The statute, despite being conceived and enacted as an anti-racketeering measure in disputes between labor and management, is frequently used in connection with cases involving public corruption, commercial disputes, and corruption directed at members of labor unions . (a) Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of

194-699: A 1 ⁄ 6 -shekel per day freight rate for a 60-gur vessel. In 1816, an archaeological excavation in Minya, Egypt (under an Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire) produced a Nerva–Antonine dynasty -era tablet from the ruins of the Temple of Antinous in Antinoöpolis , that prescribed the rules and membership dues of a burial society collegium established in Lanuvium , in approximately 133 AD during

291-406: A court employs the extraordinary remedy of injunction, it directs the conduct of a party, and does so with the backing of its full coercive powers ." A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties , including possible monetary sanctions and even imprisonment . They can also be charged with contempt of court . The injunction is an equitable remedy, that is,

388-466: A product and had control over his life and work. As industrial workers, however, the workers sold their work as labour and took directions from employers, giving up part of their freedom and self-agency in the service of a master. The critics of the new arrangement would call this " wage slavery ", but the term that persisted was a new form of human relations: employment. Unlike farmers, workers often had less control over their jobs; without job security or

485-426: A 2-shekel prevailing wage for each 60-gur (300- bushel ) vessel constructed in an employment contract between a shipbuilder and a ship-owner. Law 275 stipulated a ferry rate of 3- gerah per day on a charterparty between a ship charterer and a shipmaster. Law 276 stipulated a 2 1 ⁄ 2 -gerah per day freight rate on a contract of affreightment between a charterer and shipmaster, while Law 277 stipulated

582-412: A Hobbs Act prosecution is probably proper if there is no nexus between the information the defendant threatens to expose and the defendant's claim against the property of the target. The Hobbs Act also reaches extortionate acts by public officials acting under the color of law . A public official commits extortion under the color of law when he obtains a payment to which he is not entitled knowing that it

679-482: A blend of these two philosophies, and the definitions of the models themselves are still debated. Informal workers often face unique challenges when trying to participate in trade union movements as formal trade union organizations recognized by the state and employers may not accommodate for the employment categories common in the informal economy. Simultaneously, the lack of regular work locations and loopholes relating to false self-employment add barriers and costs for

776-678: A business' assets is usually sufficient to show an effect on interstate commerce, depletion of an individual's assets generally is not. Representatively, the Second Circuit reasoned in United States v. Perrotta (2002) that making no distinction between individuals and businesses would bring under the ambit of the Hobbs Act every conceivable robbery or extortion. The Hobbs Act covers extortionate threats of physical, economic and informational harm (i.e. blackmail). To be "wrongful,"

873-570: A century (and Marx's writings themselves frequently address the prior existence of the workers' movements of his time.) The first recorded labour strike in the United States was by Philadelphia printers in 1786, who opposed a wage reduction and demanded $ 6 per week in wages. The origins of modern trade unions can be traced back to 18th-century Britain, where the Industrial Revolution drew masses of people, including dependents , peasants and immigrants, into cities. Britain had ended

970-428: A dispute than the injunction. In the state of New South Wales , a court may grant an apprehended violence order (AVO) to a person who fears violence, harassment, abuse, or stalking . The order prohibits the defendant from assaulting, harassing, threatening, stalking, or intimidating the person seeking the order. Other conditions may be included, such as a prohibition against contacting the person or attempting to find

1067-621: A federal court in the 1920s effectively barred the United Mine Workers of America from talking to workers who had signed yellow dog contracts with their employers. Unable to limit what they called "government by injunction" in the courts, labor and its allies persuaded the United States Congress in 1932 to pass the Norris-LaGuardia Act , which imposed so many procedural and substantive limits on

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1164-575: A federation of different unions that did not directly enrol workers. In 1886, it became known as the American Federation of Labor or AFL. In Germany, the Free Association of German Trade Unions was formed in 1897 after the conservative Anti-Socialist Laws of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were repealed. In France, labour organisation was illegal until the 1884 Waldeck Rousseau laws . The Fédération des bourses du travail

1261-483: A general counsel's recommendation to a government official with respect to approving an investment) in a certain way did not constitute "the obtaining of property from another" within the meaning of the Act. The Court reasoned that the defendant did not seek to "obtain" the recommendation from the attorney, but instead wanted the attorney to make the recommendation a certain way, which is the crime of coercion (not proscribed by

1358-530: A net cost on consumers, thus obviating the role of antitrust enforcement. Interim injunctions or interim orders are granted as a means of providing interim relief while a case is being heard, to prevent actions being implemented which potentially may be barred by a final ruling. In England and Wales, injunctions whose existence and details may not be legally reported, in addition to facts or allegations which may not be disclosed, have been issued; they have been informally dubbed "super-injunctions". An example

1455-758: A number of occasions and the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980. In the United Kingdom trade union movement's relationship with the Labour Party frayed as party leadership embarked on privatization plans at odds with what unions see as the worker's interests. However, it has strengthened once more after the Labour party's election of Ed Miliband , who beat his brother David Miliband to become leader of

1552-484: A party seeks injunctive relief to enforce the grievance arbitration provisions of a collective bargaining agreement . Second, injunctions were crucial to the second half of the twentieth century in the desegregation of American schools. Federal courts gave injunctions that carried out the command of Brown v Board of Education to integrate public schools in the United States, and at times courts took over

1649-472: A plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. (b) As used in this section— (c) This section shall not be construed to repeal, modify or affect section 17 of Title 15, sections 52, 101–115, 151–166 of Title 29 or sections 151–188 of Title 45. In interpreting the Hobbs Act, the Supreme Court has held that

1746-596: A political party intended to represent the interests of the working class. Typically, this is a left-wing , socialist , or social democratic party, but many exceptions exist, including some of the aforementioned Christian unions. In the United States, trade unions are almost always aligned with the Democratic Party with a few exceptions. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has supported Republican Party candidates on

1843-497: A preliminary injunction tend to be the same as for a permanent injunction, with the additional requirement that the party asking for the injunction is likely to succeed on the merits. Permanent injunctions are issued after trial. Different federal and state courts sometimes have slightly different requirements for obtaining a permanent injunction. The Supreme Court enumerated the traditional four-factor test in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. as: The balance of hardships inquiry

1940-436: A promise of an on-going relationship with their employers, they lacked some control over the work they performed or how it impacted their health and life. It is in this context that modern trade unions emerge. In the cities, trade unions encountered much hostility from employers and government groups. In the United States, unions and unionists were regularly prosecuted under various restraint of trade and conspiracy laws, such as

2037-492: A proper motion to the court) if circumstances change in the future. These features of the injunction allow a court granting one to manage the behavior of the parties. That is the most important distinction between the injunction and another non-monetary remedy in American law, the declaratory judgment . Another way these two remedies are distinguished is that the declaratory judgment is sometimes available at an earlier point in

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2134-668: A range of socialists from Owenites to revolutionaries and played a part in the protests after the Tolpuddle Martyrs ' case, but soon collapsed. More permanent trade unions were established from the 1850s, better resourced but often less radical. The London Trades Council was founded in 1860, and the Sheffield Outrages spurred the establishment of the Trades Union Congress in 1868, the first long-lived national trade union center . By this time,

2231-560: A remedy that originated in the English courts of equity . Like other equitable remedies, it has traditionally been given when a wrong cannot be effectively remedied by an award of money damages. (The doctrine that reflects this is the requirement that an injunction can be given only when there is "no adequate remedy at law.") Injunctions are intended to make whole again someone whose rights have been violated. Nevertheless, when deciding whether to grant an injunction, courts also take into account

2328-701: A super-injunction but also including an order that the injunction must not be discussed with members of Parliament, journalists, or lawyers. One known hyper-injunction was obtained at the High Court in 2006, preventing its subject from saying that paint used in water tanks on passenger ships can break down and release potentially toxic chemicals. This example became public knowledge in Parliament under parliamentary privilege. By May 2011, Private Eye claimed to be aware of 53 super-injunctions and anonymised privacy injunctions, though Lord Neuberger's report into

2425-422: A threat of physical violence must instill some degree of duress in the target of the extortion. Furthermore, it is unlikely an economic threat is "wrongful" for Hobbs Act purposes unless a defendant purports to have the power to harm another person economically and that person believes the defendant will use that power to deprive him of something to which he is legally entitled. Finally, in the context of blackmail,

2522-465: A trade union is "an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members". Recent historical research by Bob James puts forward the view that trade unions are part of a broader movement of benefit societies , which includes medieval guilds , Freemasons , Oddfellows , friendly societies , and other fraternal organizations . Following

2619-517: A union are binding on the rank-and-file members and the employer, and in some cases on other non-member workers. Trade unions traditionally have a constitution which details the governance of their bargaining unit and also have governance at various levels of government depending on the industry that binds them legally to their negotiations and functioning. Originating in the United Kingdom , trade unions became popular in many countries during

2716-555: Is narrower than § 201 in at least one important respect: Under § 201, both the official receiving a bribe and the person bribing him have committed a federal crime, but, under § 1951, a payor of a bribe is most likely not guilty as an accomplice to extortion. On February 28, 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Scheidler v. National Organization for Women . The Court's unanimous opinion held that physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside

2813-478: Is affected when an enterprise, which either is actively engaged in interstate commerce or customarily purchases items in interstate commerce, has its assets depleted through extortion, thereby curtailing the victim's potential as a purchaser of such goods. While the courts have interpreted the jurisdictional element liberally, it is not a formality; courts have drawn a distinction under the depletion of assets theory between individuals and businesses. While depletion of

2910-475: Is also sometimes called the "undue hardship defense". A stay pending appeal is a mechanism allowing a losing party to delay enforcement of an injunction while appeal is pending after final judgment has been granted by a lower court. The DOJ and the FTC have investigated patent holders in the United States for seeking preliminary injunctions against accused infringers of standard-essential patents , or patents that

3007-409: Is called a "mandatory injunction." An injunction that prohibits conduct is called a "prohibitory injunction." Many injunctions are both—that is, they have both mandatory and prohibitory components, because they require some conduct and forbid other conduct. When an injunction is given, it can be enforced with equitable enforcement mechanisms such as contempt. It can also be modified or dissolved (upon

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3104-485: Is globalization, which makes it harder for unions to maintain standards across countries. The last reason is governmental policies. These come from both sides of the political spectrum. In the UK and US, it has been mostly right-wing proposals that make it harder for unions to form or that limit their power. On the other side, there are many social policies such as minimum wage , paid vacation , parental leave, etc., that decrease

3201-470: Is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer severe harm in the absence of preliminary relief, and that an injunction is in the public interest. In Turkish law, interim injunction is an extraordinary remedy that is never awarded as of right. In each case, courts balance the competing claims of injury and consider the likely hardship on the defendant. Injunctions have been especially important at two moments in American history. First, in

3298-489: Is supported by the far-right BNP . In Denmark, there are some newer apolitical "discount" unions who offer a very basic level of services, as opposed to the dominating Danish pattern of extensive services and organizing. In contrast, in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland ), religious unions have existed for decades. These unions typically distanced themselves from some of

3395-414: Is that a trade union "is a continuous association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". Karl Marx described trade unions thus: "The value of labour-power constitutes the conscious and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the ... working class can scarcely be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent

3492-406: Is usually to preserve the status quo until the court is able to decide the case. A special kind of injunction that may be issued before trial is called a "temporary restraining order" or TRO. A TRO may be issued without notice to the other party or a hearing. A TRO will be given only for a short period of time before a court can schedule a hearing at which the restrained person may appear and contest

3589-547: The 1820 Rising in Scotland, in which 60,000 workers went on a general strike , which was soon crushed. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824, although the Combination Act 1825 restricted their activity to bargaining for wage increases and changes in working hours. By the 1810s, the first labour organizations to bring together workers of divergent occupations were formed. Possibly

3686-905: The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms . It was stressed that Denmark and Iceland were among a limited number of contracting states that continue to permit the conclusion of closed-shop agreements. The academic literature shows substantial evidence that trade unions reduce economic inequality . The economist Joseph Stiglitz has asserted that, "Strong unions have helped to reduce inequality, whereas weaker unions have made it easier for CEOs , sometimes working with market forces that they have helped shape, to increase it." Evidence indicates that those who are not members of unions also see higher wages. Researchers suggest that unions set industrial norms as firms try to stop further unionization or losing workers to better-paying competitors. The decline in unionization since

3783-517: The Industrial Revolution . Trade unions may be composed of individual workers, professionals , past workers , students , apprentices or the unemployed . Trade union density, or the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union, is highest in the Nordic countries . Since the publication of the History of Trade Unionism (1894) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb , the predominant historical view

3880-625: The International Trade Union Confederation . However, in Japan , union organisation is slightly different due to the presence of enterprise unions, i.e. unions that are specific to a plant or company. These enterprise unions, however, join industry-wide federations which in turn are members of Rengo , the Japanese national trade union confederation. In Western Europe , professional associations often carry out

3977-697: The International Transport Workers Federation , the International Federation of Journalists , the International Arts and Entertainment Alliance and Public Services International . Union law varies from country to country, as does the function of unions. For example, German and Dutch unions have played a greater role in management decisions through participation in supervisory boards and co-determination than other countries. Moreover, in

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4074-532: The OECD average of 35.9% in 1998 to 27.9% in the year 2018. The main reasons for these developments are a decline in manufacturing , increased globalization , and governmental policies. The decline in manufacturing is the most direct influence, as unions were historically beneficial and prevalent in the sector; for this reason, there may be an increase in developing nations as OECD nations continue to export manufacturing industries to these markets. The second reason

4171-623: The Sherman Antitrust Act . This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe , though the relationship between the two is disputed, as the masters of the guilds employed workers (apprentices and journeymen) who were not allowed to organize. Trade unions and collective bargaining were outlawed from no later than

4268-625: The World Federation of Trade Unions created in 1945. The largest trade union federation in the world is the Brussels -based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), created in 2006, which has approximately 309 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories, with a combined membership of 166 million. National and regional trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups also form global union federations , such as UNI Global , IndustriALL ,

4365-413: The bargaining power of workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called union dues . The union representatives in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members through internal democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with

4462-505: The lunar new year . Companies that employ workers with a union generally operate on one of several models: An EU case concerning Italy stated that, "The principle of trade union freedom in the Italian system implies recognition of the right of the individual not to belong to any trade union ("negative" freedom of association/trade union freedom), and the unlawfulness of discrimination liable to cause harm to non-unionized employees." In

4559-432: The 1960s in the United States has been associated with a pronounced rise in income and wealth inequality and, since 1967, with loss of middle class income. Right-to-work laws have been linked to greater economic inequality in the United States. Injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. "When

4656-657: The Hobbs Act), not extortion (proscribed by the Hobbs Act). Labor unions A trade union ( British English ) or labor union ( American English ), often simply referred to as a union , is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment , such as attaining better wages and benefits , improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting and increasing

4753-470: The Supreme Court stated that the scope of federal injunctive relief is constrained by the limits on equitable remedies that existed in the English Court of Chancery around 1789. Injunctions in the United States tend to come in three main forms: temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and permanent injunctions. For both temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, the goal

4850-692: The UK and the US ), a cross-section of workers from various trades ( general unionism , traditionally found in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands, the UK and the US), or attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry ( industrial unionism , found in Australia, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US). These unions are often divided into " locals ", and united in national federations . These federations themselves will affiliate with Internationals , such as

4947-552: The United Kingdom, previous to this EU jurisprudence, a series of laws introduced during the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's government restricted closed and union shops. All agreements requiring a worker to join a union are now illegal. In the United States, the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the closed shop. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights found Danish closed-shop agreements to be in breach of Article 11 of

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5044-514: The United States, collective bargaining is most commonly undertaken by unions directly with employers, whereas in Austria, Denmark, Germany or Sweden, unions most often negotiate with employers associations , a form of sectoral bargaining . Concerning labour market regulation in the EU, Gold (1993) and Hall (1994) have identified three distinct systems of labour market regulation, which also influence

5141-543: The danger of popular unrest at the time of the Napoleonic Wars . In 1799, the Combination Act was passed, which banned trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. Although the unions were subject to often severe repression until 1824, they were already widespread in cities such as London . Workplace militancy had also manifested itself as Luddism and had been prominent in struggles such as

5238-518: The doctrines of orthodox Marxism , such as the preference of atheism and from rhetoric suggesting that employees' interests always are in conflict with those of employers. Some of these Christian unions have had some ties to centrist or conservative political movements, and some do not regard strikes as acceptable political means for achieving employees' goals. In Poland , the biggest trade union Solidarity emerged as an anti-communist movement with religious nationalist overtones and today it supports

5335-421: The effect is quite beyond attainment by such means. The multitudes who compose the working class are too numerous and too widely scattered to combine at all, much more to combine effectually. If they could do so, they might doubtless succeed in diminishing the hours of labour, and obtaining the same wages for less work. They would also have a limited power of obtaining, by combination, an increase of general wages at

5432-484: The electoral arms of trade unions. Unions are also delineated by the service model and the organizing model . The service model union focuses more on maintaining worker rights, providing services, and resolving disputes. Alternately, the organizing model typically involves full-time union organizers , who work by building up confidence, strong networks, and leaders within the workforce; and confrontational campaigns involving large numbers of union members. Many unions are

5529-437: The employer on behalf of its members, known as the rank and file, and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining agreements) with employers. Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers ( craft unionism ), a cross-section of workers from various trades ( general unionism ), or an attempt to organize all workers within a particular industry ( industrial unionism ). The agreements negotiated by

5626-425: The existence and the demands of the trade unions were becoming accepted by liberal middle-class opinion. In Principles of Political Economy (1871) John Stuart Mill wrote: If it were possible for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it needs hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to be welcomed and rejoiced at. Unfortunately

5723-462: The expense of profits. Beyond this claim, Mill also argued that, because individual workers had no basis for assessing the wages for a particular task, labour unions would lead to greater efficiency of the market system. British trade unions were finally legalized in 1872, after a Royal Commission on Trade Unions in 1867 agreed that the establishment of the organizations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. This period also saw

5820-488: The federal courts' power to issue injunctions that it effectively prohibited federal court from issuing injunctions in cases arising out of labor disputes. A number of states followed suit and enacted "Little Norris-LaGuardia Acts" that imposed similar limitations on state courts' powers. The courts have since recognized a limited exception to the Norris-LaGuardia Act's strict limitations in those cases in which

5917-657: The first such union was the General Union of Trades, also known as the Philanthropic Society, founded in 1818 in Manchester . The latter name was to hide the organization's real purpose in a time when trade unions were still illegal. The first attempts at forming a national general union in the United Kingdom were made in the 1820s and 30s. The National Association for the Protection of Labour

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6014-664: The five counties of Lancashire , Cheshire , Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire within a year. To establish awareness and legitimacy, the union started the weekly Voice of the People publication, having the declared intention "to unite the productive classes of the community in one common bond of union." In 1834, the Welsh socialist Robert Owen established the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union . The organization attracted

6111-461: The formation of burial societies among Roman Army soldiers and Roman Navy mariners to the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211) in 198 AD. In September 2011, archaeological investigations done at the site of the artificial harbor Portus in Rome revealed inscriptions in a shipyard constructed during the reign of Trajan (98–117) indicating the existence of a shipbuilders guild. Rome's La Ostia port

6208-423: The functions of a trade union. In these cases, they may be negotiating for white-collar or professional workers, such as physicians, engineers or teachers. In Sweden the white-collar unions have a strong position in collective bargaining where they cooperate with blue-colar unions in setting the "mark" (the industry norm) in negotiations with the employers' association in manufacturing industry. A union may acquire

6305-455: The growth of trade unions in other industrializing countries, especially the United States, Germany and France. In the United States, the first effective nationwide labour organization was the Knights of Labor , in 1869, which began to grow after 1880. Legalization occurred slowly as a result of a series of court decisions. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions began in 1881 as

6402-413: The injunction was varied to permit reporting of the question. By long legal tradition, parliamentary proceedings may be reported without restriction. Parliamentary proceedings are covered by absolute privilege , but the reporting of those proceedings in newspapers is only covered by qualified privilege. Another example of the use of a super-injunction was in a libel case in which a plaintiff who claimed he

6499-432: The interests of non-parties (that is, the public interest). When deciding whether to give an injunction, and deciding what its scope should be, courts give special attention to questions of fairness and good faith. One manifestation of this is that injunctions are subject to equitable defenses, such as laches and unclean hands . Injunctions are given in many different kinds of cases. They can prohibit future violations of

6596-554: The late nineteenth and early twentieth century, federal courts used injunctions to break strikes by unions. For example, after the United States government successfully used an injunction to outlaw the Pullman boycott in 1894 in In re Debs , employers found that they could obtain federal court injunctions to ban strikes and organizing activities of all kinds by unions . These injunctions were often extremely broad; one injunction issued by

6693-462: The law, such as trespass to real property, infringement of a patent, or the violation of a constitutional right (e.g., the free exercise of religion). Or they can require the defendant to repair past violations of the law. An injunction can require someone to do something, like clean up an oil spill or remove a spite fence . Or it can prohibit someone from doing something, like using an illegally obtained trade secret. An injunction that requires conduct

6790-770: The management of public schools in order to ensure compliance. (An injunction that puts a court in the position of taking over and administering an institution—such as a school, a prison, or a hospital—is often called a " structural injunction ".) Injunctions remain widely used to require government officials to comply with the Constitution, and they are also frequently used in private law disputes about intellectual property, real property, and contracts. Many state and federal statutes, including environmental statutes , civil rights statutes and employment-discrimination statutes , are enforced with injunctions. In Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo, S.A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc. (1999),

6887-600: The middle of the 14th century, when the Ordinance of Labourers was enacted in the Kingdom of England , but their way of thinking was the one that endured down the centuries, inspiring evolutions and advances in thinking which eventually gave workers more power. As collective bargaining and early worker unions grew with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the government began to clamp down on what it saw as

6984-450: The narrow boundaries for individual negotiations. As a condition to obtain the legal status of a trade union, employee associations need to prove that their leverage is strong enough to serve as a counterforce in negotiations with employers. If such an employee's association is competing against another union, its leverage may be questioned by unions and then evaluated in labour court. In Germany, only very few professional associations obtained

7081-511: The need to be in a union. The prevalence of labour unions can be measured by "union density", which is expressed as a percentage of the total number of workers in a given location who are trade union members. The table below shows the percentage across OECD members. Source: OECD Unions may organize a particular section of skilled workers ( craft unionism , traditionally found in Australia , Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,

7178-502: The order. If the TRO is contested, the court must decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction. Temporary restraining orders are often, but not exclusively, given to prevent domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or harassment. Preliminary injunctions are given before trial. Because they are issued at an early stage, before the court has heard the evidence and made a decision in the case, they are more rarely given. The requirements for

7275-559: The party after Ed secured the trade union votes. Additionally, in the past, there was a group known as the Conservative Trade Unionists , or CTU, formed of people who sympathized with right wing Tory policy but were Trade Unionists. Historically, the Republic of Korea has regulated collective bargaining by requiring employers to participate, but collective bargaining has only been legal if held in sessions before

7372-430: The patent holder must license on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms . There is an ongoing debate among legal and economic scholars with major implications for antitrust policy in the United States as well as in other countries over the statutory limits to the patent holder's right to seek and obtain injunctive relief against infringers of standard-essential patents. Citing concerns of the absence of competition facing

7469-511: The patent holder once its technology is locked-in to the standard , some scholars argue that the holder of a standard-essential patent should face antitrust liability when seeking an injunction against an implementer of a standard. Other scholars assert that patent holders are not contractually restrained from pursuing injunctions for standard-essential patent claims and that patent law is already capable of determining whether an injunction against an infringer of standard-essential patents will impose

7566-512: The person online. A court may issue the order if it believes a person has reasonable grounds for their fears or has no reasonable grounds for their fears. Non-compliance may result in the imposition of a fine, imprisonment, or both, and deportation. Interim injunctions are a provisional form of injunctive relief, which can compel a party to do something (mandatory injunction) or stop it from doing something (prohibitory injunction). A plaintiff seeking an interim injunction must establish that he

7663-408: The practice of serfdom in 1574, but the vast majority of people remained as tenant-farmers on estates owned by the landed aristocracy . This transition was not merely one of relocation from rural to urban environs; rather, the nature of industrial work created a new class of "worker". A farmer worked the land, raised animals and grew crops, and either owned the land or paid rent, but ultimately sold

7760-498: The reduction of wages below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labour-power from falling below its value" ( Capital V1, 1867, p. 1069). Early socialists also saw trade unions as a way to democratize the workplace, in order to obtain political power. A modern definition by the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that

7857-678: The reign of Hadrian (117–138) of the Roman Empire. A collegium was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity . Following the passage of the Lex Julia during the reign of Julius Caesar (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of Caesar Augustus (27 BC–14 AD), collegia required the approval of the Roman Senate or the Roman emperor in order to be authorized as legal bodies. Ruins at Lambaesis date

7954-522: The relation between individual employees and employers is considered to be asymmetrical. In consequence, many working conditions are not negotiable due to a strong legal protection of individuals. However, the German flavor or works legislation has as its main objective to create a balance of power between employees organized in unions and employers organized in employers' associations. This allows much wider legal boundaries for collective bargaining, compared to

8051-617: The right to negotiate salaries and working conditions for their members, notably the medical doctor's association Marburger Bund  [ de ] and the pilots association Vereinigung Cockpit  [ de ] . The engineer's association Verein Deutscher Ingenieure does not strive to act as a union, as it also represents the interests of engineering businesses. Beyond the classification listed above, unions' relations with political parties vary. In many countries unions are tightly bonded, or even share leadership, with

8148-507: The right-wing Law and Justice party. Although their political structure and autonomy varies widely, union leaderships are usually formed through democratic elections . Some research, such as that conducted by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training, argues that unionized workers enjoy better conditions and wages than those who are not unionized. The oldest global trade union organizations include

8245-584: The role that unions play: The United States takes a more laissez-faire approach, setting some minimum standards but leaving most workers' wages and benefits to collective bargaining and market forces. Thus, it comes closest to the above Anglo-Saxon model. Also, the Eastern European countries that have recently entered into the EU come closest to the Anglo-Saxon model. In contrast, in Germany,

8342-561: The scope of the Hobbs Act, and that the United States Congress did not intend the Act to create a "freestanding physical violence offense." For that reason, the Court held, abortion clinics could not use the Hobbs Act to obtain an injunction against anti-abortion protesters. On June 26, 2013, in Sekhar v. United States , the Court ruled that threats to a public official in order to get him to use his non-transferable property (in this case,

8439-1182: The status of a " juristic person " (an artificial legal entity), with a mandate to negotiate with employers for the workers it represents. In such cases, unions have certain legal rights, most importantly the right to engage in collective bargaining with the employer (or employers) over wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment . The inability of the parties to reach an agreement may lead to industrial action , culminating in either strike action or management lockout , or binding arbitration. In extreme cases, violent or illegal activities may develop around these events. In some regions, unions may face active repression, either by governments or by extralegal organizations, with many cases of violence , some having lead to deaths, having been recorded historically. Unions may also engage in broader political or social struggle. Social Unionism encompasses many unions that use their organizational strength to advocate for social policies and legislation favourable to their members or to workers in general. As well, unions in some countries are closely aligned with political parties . Many Labour parties were founded as

8536-473: The statute employs the fullest extent of federal authority under the Commerce Clause . Thus, the lower federal courts have recognized that an actual effect on commerce is sufficient to satisfy the federal jurisdictional element even if it is slight or de minimis . The government will often use the depletion of assets theory to prove the jurisdictional element. Under this theory, interstate commerce

8633-444: The trade unions when trying to organize the informal economy. This has been a significant threshold to labour organizing in low-income countries , where the labour force mostly works in the informal economy. In the United Kingdom, the perceived left-leaning nature of trade unions (and their historical close alignment with the Labour Party ) has resulted in the formation of a reactionary right-wing trade union called Solidarity which

8730-476: The unification of the city-states in Assyria and Sumer by Sargon of Akkad into a single empire c.  2334 BC , a common Mesopotamian standard for length, area, volume, weight, and time used by artisan guilds in each city was promulgated by Naram-Sin of Akkad ( c.  2254 –2218 BC), Sargon's grandson, including for shekels . Codex Hammurabi Law 234 ( c.  1755–1750 BC ) stipulated

8827-543: The use of super-injunctions revealed that only two super-injunctions had been granted since January 2010. Many media sources were wrongly describing all gagging orders as super-injunctions. The widespread media coverage of super-injunctions led to a drop in numbers after 2011; however four were granted in the first five months of 2015. Injunctions defined by the European Commission as injunctions which can be issued for instance in cases in which materially

8924-525: Was defamed by family members in a dispute over a multimillion-pound family trust obtained anonymity for himself and for his relatives. Roy Greenslade credits the former editor of The Guardian , Alan Rusbridger , with coining the word "super-injunction" in an article about the Trafigura affair in September 2009. The term "hyper-injunction" has also been used to describe an injunction similar to

9021-469: Was established in 1830 by John Doherty , after an apparently unsuccessful attempt to create a similar national presence with the National Union of Cotton-spinners. The Association quickly enrolled approximately 150 unions, consisting mostly of textile related unions , but also including mechanics, blacksmiths, and various others. Membership rose to between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals spread across

9118-624: Was founded in 1887 and merged with the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions) in 1895 to form the General Confederation of Labour . In a number of countries during the 20th century, including in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, legislation was passed to provide for the voluntary or statutory recognition of a union by an employer. Union density has been steadily declining from

9215-471: Was home to a guildhall for a corpus naviculariorum , a collegium of merchant mariners. Collegium also included fraternities of Roman priests overseeing ritual sacrifices , practising augury , keeping scriptures, arranging festivals, and maintaining specific religious cults. While a commonly held mistaken view holds modern trade unionism to be a product of Marxism , the earliest modern trade unions predate Marx's Communist Manifesto (1848) by almost

9312-485: Was made in exchange for official acts. § 1951 therefore not only embraces the same conduct the federal bribery statute ( 18 U.S.C.   § 201 ) prohibits, it goes further in two ways: It is important to note, however, that it is irrelevant whether the public official in fact intended to hold up his or her end of the bargain—it is enough that the official had knowledge of the payor's intent to buy official acts. Notwithstanding its potentially broad reach, § 1951

9409-606: Was the super-injunction raised in September 2009 by Carter-Ruck solicitors on behalf of oil trader Trafigura , prohibiting the reporting of an internal Trafigura report into the 2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste dump scandal. The existence of the super-injunction was revealed only when it was referred to in a parliamentary question that was subsequently circulated on the Internet ( parliamentary privilege protects statements by MPs in Parliament which would otherwise be held to be in contempt of court). Before it could be challenged in court,

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