The Ollivier law (Loi Ollivier) was a French law, voted in 25 May 1864, which legalized the right to strike which was not allowed in France since 1791.[1] [2] However it remained limited and still maintained the concept of "impeding the free exercise of employees rights" ("délit d'entrave à la liberté du travail").
Also the Trade unions were still not allowed. They were allowed only since the Waldeck-Rousseau law on 21 March 1884.[3]
Under certain conditions, strikes became possible.[4] This law, like the financing of a workers' delegation to the 1862 Universal Exhibition in London, demonstrated Napoleon III's desire to create a link between the regime and the workers. The law was fiercely opposed by the right, and a large proportion of Republicans did not accept it.
A major milestone in the development of trade unionism, it was nevertheless supplemented in 1884 by the Waldeck-Rousseau law on the creation of professional trade unions.[5] [6]
The Front Populaire reaffirmed the right to organize in 1936.
In 1946, the right to strike was enshrined in the preamble to the French constitution.[7]