Labor Law and Antitrust : " so Deceptive and Opaque Are the Elements of These Problems

SINCE the passage of the Sherman Act in 1890,1 a perennial debate has raged over the proper application of the antitrust laws to the labor movement. Although the unions had long opted for an absolute right of employees to organize and pursue their mutual benefit, at an early date such activity was held subject to antitrust strictures on the theory that the act did not contemplate discrimination between sources of restraint on trade. In time, however, Congress determined that labor was to be at least partially protected from the effects of the Sherman Act,4 and today sections six and twenty