This case is therefore, for example, for a yellow canine contract that was ultimately successful, since the employer that created it was allowed to continue to create it and forced the employees to comply. It is important to note, however, that this case was heard years before the Norris-LaGuardia Act was passed. The union asked Pullman`s workers not to sign the “yellow dog contract” and insisted that refusing to sign it does not mean they are unfaithful. (Image: according to publications.newberry.org) Yellow canine contracts date back to the 1870s. They appeared in the form of written agreements, commonly referred to as “iron” or “famous” documents containing anti-union agreements. When a worker signed one of these agreements, he gave up his right to join the corresponding union for his profession. Until 1887, however, 16 states had considered it a criminal activity to compel staff to sign these agreements. In the spring of 1921, the term “yellow dog” was first published in publications addressed to union members. The publisher of the United Mine Workers` Journal spoke for many by commenting: by adding this “non-joining” clause to its contracts, Coppage violated state law that prohibits any form of anti-union contract. This case is an example of the violation by the yellow canine contracts of the fourteenth amendment – in particular the due process clause of the amendment.

A yellow canine contract is also sometimes called an iron oath or yellow dog game. These contracts describe certain contracts and working conditions and, in particular, that a worker is not associated with a union during his employment. It is an employment contract that requires workers not to be unions as conditions of employment. The Yellow Dog contract, also known as the Yellow Dog Clause of a contract or as the Iron Oath, was widely used by American employers before 1932 to prevent the formation of unions. The concept of a “yellow dog” clause may also have another meaning: the existence of a non-compete clause within or a confidentiality agreement to prevent a worker from working for other employers in the same sector. [4] At the beginning of the 20th century, the only professions that were still under contract for yellow dogs were coal mining and metallurgical industry. Moreover, it was no longer the affiliation of a worker to a union that was prohibited, but his participation in activities that required the affiliation of a worker to a union as a precondition. A yellow canine contract is used to prevent employees from participating in a union while they are on a company`s payroll. Read 3 min An example of a yellow canine contract is found in a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1915, 12 years after the state of Kansas passed legislation to encourage workers to form unions.

The law prohibits employers from subjecting their jobs to conditions that a worker must refuse to join a union or stop participating in a union before working for his or her businesses. But 12 years later, Coppage – an employer – added a clause to its employment contracts that required workers to relinquish their right to join a union after accepting a job. The term – the yellow dog contract – was used by union members. A yellow dog was a worthless hybrid – this term was then applied to worthless people. Someone who signed the contract, who pledged never to join a union, had no value or had a worthless job – the contract reduced the workers to the status of yellow dogs (worthless things). “Asking a man to agree in advance, to refrain from belonging to the union, while maintaining a certain position of employment, does not mean inviting him to renounce any part of his constitutional freedom.