History Repeats Itself, A Fight For Fair Wage

To begin, there is an extensive debate over whether if the U.S were to raise minimum wage, could it really help the working poor of low income families. Nancy Cook, in her article from the National Journal, “Why a Minimum-Wage Hike Can’t Help the Poor”, she points out that two thirds of around 100 surveys from 2007 had a negative effect and that it does more for the middle class than the lower one. (p.14). So, therefore, from her

Unemployment continued and so did the Depression. The National Recovery Administration alienated business, and failed in encouraging private expansion or investment. Although it stopped the decrease in the prices of consumer goods, it failed to create new jobs and also contributed to feelings of animosity within the nation. The unemployment rate continued to hold devastating statistics as it never dropped below 14 percent and averaged 17 percent for the entire decade of the 1930s. The New Deal tripled federal taxes from $1.6 billion in 1933 to $5.3 billion in 1940, causing the American public to lose a lot of money. A number of New Deal laws, which included 700 industrial cartel codes, made it more expensive for employers to hire people and consequently discouraged hiring. The frequent changes in the tax laws combined with FDR’s anti-business ideology discouraged people from making investments that were essential for economic growth and an increase in jobs. The security laws of the

These actions are similar to the actions taken by Theodore Roosevelt during the progressive era. The ideas of the National Recovery Administration contains ideas that further the ideas and events during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the coal strike of 1902, where he showed strong support for the workers. This is similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies that involved the Federal Government directly helping the working class people. Furthermore, the progressive era showed strong support “for legislation regulating child labor and workplace safety” (Reform). Through the National Recovery Administration, child labor was ended (The Great). Even after the Supreme Court ruled the National Recovery Administration unconstitutional in the Schechter case, the basic principles of both the progressive era labor union reforms and the National Recovery Administration were carried through in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This new act readministered many of the regulations issued by the National Recovery Administration; this act “set a minimum wage, maximum working hours, and forbade children under 16 from working” (The Great). Similarly, by 1910 of the progressive era, state laws were already established that regulated the minimum age for children to work at an age between 12 and 16 and also set a maximum length to a workday and a

As the United States endured the hardships of the Great Depression, the struggles of the working class grew and employers were able to take advantage of desperate workers by overloading hours and shrinking wages. In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt, in his New Deal legislation, saw the opportunity to attend to the issues concerning workers involved in interstate commerce. The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, and the President described it in the following way “Except for the Social Security Act, it (the FLSA) is the most far-reaching, far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted here or in any other country.” (Nordlund). The FLSA, as it is known, set a maximum number of

Once President Franklin Roosevelt was elected during the Great Depression, his first 100 days enacted what he called the New Deal. This “deal” was a series of reforms that were meant to increase available jobs, better the working conditions, and put money back into the economy. Jobs offered during this time, as well as the relief, recovery, and reform efforts gave a kick start to the American economy, helping to pull us out of the Great Depression. Some examples of these efforts can be seen in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the National Recovery Administration (NRA), and the Social Security Act (SSA).

Many different arguments emerged from Roosevelt’s New Deal. Some people believed that FDR was against the idea of business, they had no hope for the economy, and thought that the United States would be in debt forever. In the letter to Senator Robert Wagner, the author explains the unemployment rates, and how the government hasn’t done anything to stabilize the economy. In fact, the author believes that communism is arising and everything clashed together will lead to a “disaster to all classes”. Meanwhile, Franklin Roosevelt was creating jobs to decrease unemployment rates, and he created the National Industrial Recovery Act, which proposed fair competition and collective bargaining for workers. The author of this letter is proven wrong because in fact, America did turn around, and FDR’s policies were ultimately extremely effective. The unemployment rate was brought up again in an NBC radio broadcast by John L. Lewis in 1936. This broadcast spoke about the “labor unrest”, the strikes that unemployment has provoked, and the major issue of huge corporations having the right of self-organization and collective bargaining. Once again, Franklin

The New deal of 1933 is often regarded at the height of the government’s beneficial support for the rights of the worker. The overall aim of the legislation was to decrease unemployment left in the wake of the Great Depression, as well as improve the rights of those who had already found employment in the unskilled labour force. The National Industry Recovery Act marked a significant change in the attitude of the Governments that had gone before, in that Roosevelt’s economic plans tended to support the worker over the employer, seeking to guarantee minimum wages, as well as the rights of trade unions to exercise collective bargaining techniques. The real benefits of the act were limited in that it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, as it infringed on State’s rights. Despite this, the prospects for greater improvement in labour rights had never been better, as there was now a President who not only

In between the early 1900’s and late 1930’s laws regarding organized labor and laws protecting businesses were passed or declined. Different industries had different minimum wage requirements and some didn’t follow at all. When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, one of the first things he did was sign a New Deal. The New Deal consisted of new proposed ideas and laws; many in particular pertained to labor. This was due to the happening of the Great Depression. The New Deal helped ban child labor, raise the minimum wage, and regulated the appropriate amount of hours a person should work.

Another one of the New Deal's contradictory reforms was the National Industrial Recovery Act. The principle was to establish minimum wages and prices and general labor regulations. On one hand, it sought to keep wage rates high and give the consumer greater purchasing power. On the other hand, it established hundreds of legally sanctioned industry-wide cartels that were allowed to establish standard wages, hours of operation and minimum prices on their own terms. The minimum prices meant that businesses would be prevented from underselling each other. The artificially high wages also meant that unemployment would continue to rise. High prices for goods were not the right path to take since the United States economy was in the biggest depression it had ever seen. In 1935, the Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional, on the grounds that the United States government had no right to regulate intrastate commerce, since it was a power usually granted to state governments. To replace parts of the NRA, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Board and

Roosevelt) became elected into presidency, he announced a four-day “bank holiday” where all banks closed so that Congress could pass the New Deal, made up of several policies that addressed the problems of the Great Depression. For example, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). “They built dams and hydroelectric projects to control flooding and provide electric power to the impoverished Tennessee Valley region of the South” Another example would be the Works Project Administration (WPA), “a program that employed 8.5 million people from 1935 to 1943”. Another policy that is still around and widely used today is the Social Security Act. “This provided Americans with unemployment, disability and pensions for old age, for the first time.” This was a great step because when the Great Depression first began, “the United States was the only industrialized country without any form of unemployment insurance or social

The National Recovery Administration had one main goal and that was to stimulate competition to aid both the consumers and the producers. The NRA created industry-wide codes, these codes were supposed to get rid of unfair trade practices, reduce employment, guarantee the right of labour to bargain collectively, and they established minimum wages and maximum work hours. The agency in charge of this act established 557 basic codes and 208 supplementary codes. These codes affected about 22 million workers. Companies that subscribed to the NRA were able to display a blue eagle.

It was the year of 1934. America was fighting to come out from the worst economic crisis that the world would ever witness. It was also the year of high crime rate, low Gross Domestic Product and the lowest unemployment rate America had experienced. The Depression had paralyzed American labor forces, but there was a hope still alive in every American including J.D. Rockefeller when he said, “These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again” (Rockefeller). At that time, the next president named Franklin D. Roosevelt, famous as FDR, brought Americans back to work through his confident efforts and new series of programs called ‘the New Deal’.

The next step in FDRs New Deal is recovery. The objective of the National Recovery Administration was to create codes for businesses to follow. These codes would then help to provide minimum wages for employees, restrict the number of hours worked to prevent over time and set prices and production levels. The goal was to fix the American economy by limiting competition, rising power purchased by the consumer and hiring unemployed workers back to work for them once more. By mid-1933, the new agency achieved the voluntary acceptance by nearly 600 industries of new codes. The new codes covered nearly 30 million workers. One problem was that the chief administrator was chosen because of his well-known service in the WIB during World War I. Sadly,

The Earned income tax credit can be defined as a way for workers who have a moderate annual income rate to receive a reduction in federal income as well as their payroll taxes. The credit was established with specifically low-income status workers as the main target, and this was due to the fact that the EITC is a refundable credit. Since its establishment in the year of 1975 the EITC has been modified about several times, it was originally set up with a goal to combine an incentive for having employment as a low-income workers who had children, with the anti-poverty effects of having negative income taxes. It was deemed the best pro family and anti-poverty measure that was produced from the acts of congress, and is a key part of the economic

First of all, the marginal tax cut was one of the most significant policy in the governing of President Reagan. Starting from 1981, government reduced individual tax (the top tax rate was reduced from 70% to 50 %) and Windfall profit tax. As the Tax reform act of 1986 published, the tax rate of wealthiest Americans was decline to 28 % and corporation tax was decreased to 34%.” In addition, as marginal tax rate for wealthy people decreasing, personal exemption amount increased from $1,080 to $2,000. That means,