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The orderly and peaceable assembling or cooperation of persons employed in any calling, trade, or industrial, mechanical, or manual art, for the purpose of obtaining an advance in the rate of wages or compensation, or of maintaining such rate, shall not be unlawful; nor shall it be unlawful for such persons to organize trade or labor assemblies or unions for the purpose of bettering the mental and material condition of the members thereof by lawful and peaceable means; Provided, That any corporation, firm, or employer, or any official, agent, or representative thereof, as well as any person vested with authority to employ or discharge laborers, who discharges any laborer or reduces his compensation as such laborer because he has made himself prominent in the presentation of any grievance or claim in defense and for the benefit of his comrades or of himself, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. History —Mar. 1, 1902, p. 211, § 1; Apr. 26, 1939, No. 48, p. 406, § 1, eff. 90 days after Apr. 26, 1939.