Saturday, December 2, 2017
The Wagner Act
The Wagner Act, originally known as the National Labor Relations Act, was the most important labor legislation act set in the 1900's. It's goal was to provide workers with the right to join labor unions. It also let them bargain with other employers as a strong union. These unions would go on strikes which employers did not like. This act was led by the democratic senator of New York, Robert F. Wagner who set the federal government in charge of setting these labor regulations. The government created a new group of 3 members, known as the National labor relations board, who had the power to judge and listen to labor complaints. They decided if the bargaining units created by labor unions were to be represented by the employers in their business or industry. If the employers were to refuse, then they would be sent to jail in some cases. Republicans did not like this act because it took away from their big businesses or industries. They declared it unconstitutional for taking away from employers rights to "freedom of contract". This act was very successful for the poor people in gaining a group to go on strikes. This separated the rich from the poor and this division also separated the two parties, democrats and republicans, more. How does this affect the economy during this period of time?
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I think the information you provided is very interesting and in addition I would like to answer the question of how this affected the economy during this period of time. That because this faced so much challenges from employers and their allies in Congress, mainly on the republican side, it was challenged in court on multiply accounts and claimed as "an unconstitutional intrusion by the federal government" and a "violation of human rights." That many employers would later argue the government was infringing on their rights as it fiercely prohibited employers and big businesses to discriminate against workers who organize and join unions. In addition, this act was significantly weakened in 1947 when the Taft-Hartley act was passed by a Republican controlled congress over the veto of the president Henry Truman.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very interesting to contrast with the way that unions were treated before this act. Before this, unions had very little power and often government favored big business as shown as explicitly as federal troops being called in to break up union strikes. Like many new Deal reforms, this showed a change from old politics to new politics; from laissez-faire policy toward business to government regulation and involvement. How is this act still important today? What made this act different in not being deemed unconstitutional like its predecessor NIFA?
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