You should look up Luddites. Despite them now being associated with knee-jerk anti-technological groups, the original Luddites (Capital L, as followers of their possibly mythical hero Ned Ludd) were not anti-technology. They were a proto-union, workers who were being mistreated by shop owners, not being paid fairly, and undergoing unsafe practices that could maim or kill them. As a consequence, they first tried to reason with the owners, and wen that failed, went for direct action instead.
At the time, many factories encompassed large rooms where several owners would have their machines. The Luddites would often disguise themselves, then break into the factories and smash the equipment of those owners who were treating them unfairly. They would not smash the equipment of the fair employers. The Luddites stopped their attacks when unions were made legal in England.
If you're interested in learning more about the actual Luddites, start with EP Thompson's excellent The Making of the English Working Class which covers their history in some detail. He's also written some articles (as have others) that go into more detail on the Luddites and similar movements if you have access to journal databases.
