The Taft-Hartley Act

Since the enactment of the Wagner Act, there has been a dramatic change in the way employment is handled between managers and employees. Employees have been given more of a chance to decide what they want at work, and are able to negotiate with their employers. They have the opportunity to discuss wage, hours, over time, etc. Previously, employees had little to no say in decisions that were made regarding their employment and basically had to be “yes men” for the employers. It prevented employers from firing people in unions, as well as people who were sympathetic to unions. Retracting these laws that have been put into place would be an egregious error. They are there in order to protect employees, regardless of whether they are in a

The National Labor Relation Act of 1935, protects employees against discrimination and anything that affects the interstate commerce. The defendant was ordered to cease further from discrimination, offer employees their positions back, and show notices that there will be no further discrimination against members of the union. Jones & Laughlin Steel argued that the NLRB’s actions were unconstitutional because there goods were manufactured and not interstate commerce; meaning the government had no place to regulate. (The Oyez

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also known as the Wagner Act, was enacted in Congress in 1935 and became one of the most important legacies of the New Deal. Prior to the passage of the NLRA, employers had been free to spy on, interrogate, discipline, discharge, and blacklist union members. Reversing years of federal opposition, the statute guaranteed the right of employees to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes. The act also created a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to arbitrate deadlocked labor-management disputes, guarantee democratic union elections, and penalize unfair labor practices by employers. The law applied to all employees involved in the interstate

See, e.g., Marion Crain & Ken Matheny, Beyond Unions, Notwithstanding Labor Law, 4 U.C. IRVINE L. REV. 561, 562–53 (2014). “Unions served as a vehicle for worker voice and political influence . . . .”

Initially, the intent of labor unions was for employed workers to meet together and collectively agree on fundamental workplace objectives and goals. The rise of the union came about after the Civil War, in the United States- responding to the industrial economy boom. Following the war, labor unions finally reached public popularity within the 1930-1950’s, and then again began to slowly decrease, through the 1960’s and on to today’s times. Although, the popularity of labor unions has decreased, its importance remains to be evident with politics, journalism, auto, and the public education industries.

The unions of yesterday have left the public feeling fearful of what might happen in the future. Will history repeat itself? Will employees be deceived through the mighty power of Labor Unions? Promoting benefits of unionized labor is one approach to regaining the trust of the public. Benefits include medical aid, heath insurance, worker compensation and overall respect of employees in the workplace. I feel with these measures taken Labor unions will once again reach the productivity that it once had pre-WWII.

Labor Unions: Aging Dinosaur or Sleeping Giant? The Labor Movement and Unionism Background and Brief History Higher wages! Shorter workdays! Better working conditions! These famous words echoed throughout the United States beginning in “1790 with the skilled craftsmen” (Dessler, 1997, p. 544). For the last two-hundred years, workers of all trades have been fighting for their rights and “seeking methods of improving their living standards, working conditions, and job security” (Boone, 1996,p.287). As time went by, these individuals came to the conclusion that if they work together collectively, they would grow stronger to get responses to their demands. This inspired into what we know today as labor unions. “A labor union

Firing union supporters was made illegal; and rather than having to strike for recognition, workers could petition the NLRB for a democratic determination of whether a majority of workers favored unionizing.

NLRA was considered to be the law that affected the relationship among the federal government and private enterprise; this measure considerably increased the government’s powers to arbitrate in labor relations. Prior to this law, employers had the emancipation to chastise, spy on, question for no reason and fire union members. Work stoppages commenced in the mid 1930’s (Gould, 1986), which included striking by factory and industrial occupational workers. By the time the strikes came to a halt, America had a more conservative Congress. This Congress led to balance the power between employers and unions. While the Wagner Act addressed only unfair labor practices by employers, it was added to the enactment of

In 1935, Congress passed and President Franklin Roosevelt marked into law the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), known as the Wagner Act after its Senate supporter, New York Democrat Robert Wagner. Segment 7 of the Wagner Act states: "Workers should have the privilege to self-association, to shape, join, or help work associations, to deal by and large through delegates of their own picking, and to take part in other deliberate exercises with the end goal of aggregate haggling or other shared guide or assurance". Notwithstanding, Section 8(3) of the Wagner Act considered understandings amongst bosses and officers of a union requiring union enrollment as a state of business if the union was affirmed or perceived as the representatives ' selective dealing specialist on matters of pay,

The Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1947 to protect the employee’s rights from the union and their unfair practices ("1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions | NLRB," n.d). The ACT changed the language of the Wagner ACT, to protect the employees who did not want to participate in union activities but they were required to become a member as one of the conditions when they were hired ("1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions | NLRB," n.d.). Another change made to protect the employees was stopping the union from overcharging the dues and fees. The amendment also noted that unions had an obligation to all members to bargain in good faith ("1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions | NLRB," n.d.).

If unions grew to a point to where they were strong enough, it was only then that the unions and the workers they represented would go on the offensive and demand pay raises. This all came together with the passing of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 which guarantees basic rights of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining for better terms and conditions at work, and take collective action including strike if necessary. The act also created the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts elections that can require employers to engage in collective bargaining with labor unions (also known as trade

For 12 years the Wagner Act showed promise however in the first year of the revisions Taft-Hartley Act unions success percentage decline and during the late 1950s corruption, and racketeering had increased (Law, 2015). In order to minimize on the misconduct Congress ruled intense reform was need to improve issues that need to be addressed by both the Wagner Act and the Taft-Hartley Act (Law, 2015). The Landrum- Griffin Act signed in 1959 President Eisenhower, this new Labor-Management Reporting law and Disclosure Act strengthen were the Wagner Act and the Taft-Hartley Act lacked (Law, 2015).

State Department of Labor as a direct result of pressure from organized labor (MacLaury). Shortly after the creation of the Department of Labor, the Great Recession hit the nation. With the depression came an increased unemployment and lesser wages however significant legislation was also created during that time that impacted union membership. The most significant law was the Fair Labor Standards Act. Following shortly after this FLSA, the United States amended the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Occupations Health and Safety Act of 1970. Although these acts were supported by the power of unions, these acts in particular impact union membership which will be discussed later in the paper. It was at this time in the nation’s history that unions began to see a decline in membership. Unions today cast a wide umbrella of membership and consist of trade unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Laborers International Union of North America to service unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers. Although their membership has declined, unions that were once affiliated with a defined group skilled labor employees now can be found in almost any industry representing any group of employees.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) started in July 1935 to protect the rights of employees, rather, they be union or nor-union employees (Pozgar, 2012). The employees are protected under the Act or may employ in bubble-like, rigorous goings-on in situations other than the customary union organizations and cooperative bargaining. The National Labor Relations Board regulates the employers from interfering with the rights of the employees to implement or organize and join with a groups that offers assists with collective bargaining purposes like organization union or joining one (Pozgar, 2012). The employer may not restrain, coerce or stop employees