Before the UAW sit down strike in Flint, Michigan, the Roosevelt Administration liberated labor through the Wagner Act. The Wagner Act, or National Labor Relations Act, protects union rights and allows organizing in the workplace. The act reversed over a decade of government hostility toward labor. Wagner remains controversial eight decades later, but its protection of workers’ rights led to the rise of unionism.
A series of terrorist bombings in 1919 led to a Red Scare that tainted labor. The Harding-Coolidge boom of the twenties further undercut the movement. A booming economy and increased prosperity made unionism look passé. This changed with the economic collapse in 1929. However, unions remained restrained by law and a suspicious legal system.
Franklin Roosevelt reached out to labor in an effort to raise the standard of living and build a political coalition. The country began moving toward increased workers’ rights under Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt picked and expanded the cause. In 1935, he signed the Wagner Act into law.
The Wagner Act legalized most union activities. Workers could collective bargain and go on strike. Employees could actually discuss wages and have representation. The act also created the National Labor Relations Board to oversee union elections and prohibited certain unfair practices. Unfair practices included interfering with unions, discriminating against union workers, and refusing to bargain in “good faith.”
The law changed the relationship between workers and employers, which led to controversy. Some called the act “socialist” and believed it unconstitutional interference with private property rights. The Supreme Court undercut these efforts by upholding Wagner. On the other hand, non-industrial unions complained the law did not effectively cover them or forced them into league with industrial unions which might not have the same goals or needs. Eight decades later, remnants of the same arguments continue. Additionally, today's critics complain about the politicization of the NLRB and fear its scope of power.
Despite the criticism, the Wagner Act was a Magna Carta for labor. It liberated workers and organizers to associate and bargain as a unit. Union membership tripled over the next decade. 13% of the workforce belonged to unions in 1935. The percentage peaked at nearly 36% in 1945. This would never have happened without Wagner and the environment it created.
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