Blacklegger

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who works despite a strike to undermine unions ; someone who sells goods illegally, outside of official channels
2. An individual who refuses to join a strike and continues working during labor disputes ; a vendor who trades in illicit or unlicensed merchandise
3. One who crosses picket lines by working during a strike ; a dealer engaged in unlawful distribution of goods

Etymology: The word is a simple stack of two parts: "blackleg," a noun for a strikebreaker or a person who cheats or sells illegally, with the agent suffix "-er" added to name the person who does it. Its literal sense is therefore someone whose legs are black, a picture that comes from the "blackleg" itself rather than from any single event recorded here. The "blackleg" half is the more colourful one. The word has long been used of a dishonest gambler or swindler, and when labour disputes arose it was applied to workers who broke a strike by taking the jobs of those walking out. The added "-er" turns that label into a noun for the individual doing the job, so the strikebreaker and the illegal trader share one thread: each steps outside the rules that the group has agreed to observe.