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The New Deal increased
rights for labor (workers)
President Roosevelt pushed for
creation of a law called the National
Labor Relations Act. This
new law was passed by Congress in 1935. It gave a clear legal
right for workers to organize and join labor unions.
An important part of the new law allowed
federal officials
to
supervise elections held by workers to set up
unions. This was intended to
make sure workers were not bullied by their employers against voting.
The photo on the right from 1941 shows workers in a Ford
factory near Detroit voting to join the United Auto Workers union.
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Below: A large majority of
workers at the Ford
factory supported joining
the United Auto Workers union. After the vote, the company agreed
to hold
talks with the union leaders about wages and work conditions, as the
law
required.
As a result, workers won higher wages and also extra pay if they were
assigned to the night shift or worked overtime.
In what category in the chart below should the
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 be placed?
The union vote photos are from the Library of Congress.
The New Deal
chart is by David Burns
Some images have been edited or resized for this page.
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Copyright Notice
Copyright 2009, 2020 by David Burns. All rights
reserved.
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