In the Senn v. Tile Layers Protective Union et al., 1936, the U.S Supreme Court upheld a Wisconsin law that allowed non-union workers to join trade unions and participate in peaceful strikes for better working conditions. The case arose when Jacob Senn, a Milwaukee tile contractor who employed both unionized and non-unionized laborers, was targeted by picketing efforts from his unionized employees demanding equal pay for all workers. He sued on grounds of property rights infringement but lost at state level before appealing to the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of the Tile Layers Protective Union with Justice Benjamin Cardozo stating that while individual liberty is important, it must sometimes be subordinated to allow collective bargaining as this would ultimately benefit society as a whole through improved working conditions and wages. This ruling reinforced previous decisions upholding labor's right to organize and strike under certain circumstances.

In the dissenting opinion for Senn v. Tile Layers Protective Union, Justice James Clark McReynolds argued that the majority's decision was an overreach of state power and a violation of individual rights to property and liberty. He contended that Wisconsin's law allowing peaceful picketing by unions infringed on employers' right to conduct business without interference. According to him, this ruling allowed unions too much power in determining labor conditions at the expense of non-union workers and employers alike. Furthermore, he believed it violated principles of free competition by giving preference to unionized labor over non-union laborers who might be willing or able to perform work under different conditions or wages. In essence, his argument centered around concerns about potential abuses from excessive government intervention into private economic affairs.