The Years of Great Struggle

The so-called Penitentiary Law was actually three laws. Firstly, new rules in the Labor Disputes Act which extended and tightened criminal liability for participation in and incitement to illegal strikes and which made the trade unions financially responsible for losses the employer suffered as a result of the action. Secondly, the addition of a new chapter in the Labor Disputes Act on compulsory arbitration in interest disputes. And finally, an addition to Penal Code § 222 on coercion, which criminalized almost any measure intended to stop strikebreakers from working. With these acts the capital-owning class succeeded in turning the law into a weapon against the working class. Despite the great conflict between labor and capital that emerged with the industrialization of society, the courts, led by the Supreme Court, had taken a relatively neutral position in the struggle. Now the law was set for a change. The laws not only challenged the legal consciousness in broad sections of the population, who perceived them as instances of class justice. They also challenged the professional lawyers’ perception of the law as neutral.