Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73
§17 Antitrust laws not applicable to labor organizations
Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - MONOPOLIES AND COMBINATIONS IN RESTRAINT OF TRADE › § 17
Summary
Human labor is not a product. Antitrust laws do not stop labor, agricultural, or horticultural groups that exist to help members, have no stock, and are not run for profit from acting lawfully or being treated as illegal combinations.
Full Legal Text
Title 15, §17
Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce. Nothing contained in the antitrust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and operation of labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations, instituted for the purposes of mutual help, and not having capital stock or conducted for profit, or to forbid or restrain individual members of such organizations from lawfully carrying out the legitimate objects thereof; nor shall such organizations, or the members thereof, be held or construed to be illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade, under the antitrust laws.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The antitrust laws, referred to in text, are defined in section 12 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 17
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73