In January 1890, the Reichstag refused to extend the Anti-Socialist Laws which had prohibited socialist political parties and trade unions.
[2][3] In March 1892, the commission called a congress in Halberstadt, at which a majority agreed to support the formation of national, centralised unions.
[3][4] The commission promoted some standardisation among its members, encouraging them to set up insurance funds to cover strikes, travel, health, and death.
By the second half of the 1890s, Legien was arguing that the unions were no longer a recruitment school for the SPD, but were mass industrial organisations, of whom only a minority of members would become political activists.
[1][5] The commission supported German involvement in World War I, arguing for a moratorium on political debate and industrial action.
In December 1918, with the SPD in power, the commission participated in founding the Central Working Group for Industrial and Commercial Employers and Employees in Germany.