The Labor Movement

Samantha Leavy
Andrea Estepa
15 November 2015
Paper 2
Despair Leading to Development in the Labor Movement
By the end of World War II, millions of workers were union members, and collective bargaining had captured the industrial economy . The displeasure of manufacturing workers coalesced with New Deal collective bargaining legislature, carrying mass production to striking distance. Nelson Lichtenstein claims in, “The Union’s Retreat in the Postwar Era”, that the number of unionized worked had begun to increase. This is important because over fourteen million workers took part in strike movements that focused on union power in the workplace . In the discussion from “How to Win for the Union”, it was believed that these unauthorized strikes
Another contrast from the Gilded Age, where large American labor unions consisted of lower class, blue collar workers. According to the readings, “Who Built America?” legislations were set in order to allow the growth from the great depression . The growth and successes of the American labor movement during the years of the Great Depression are owed to the pro-union standpoint of the Roosevelt administration, as well as from regulations authorized by congress during the initial “New Deal” era . Overall, legislation was the key determinant in the success and growth of the labor movement during the Great Depression. It took 100 days for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to propose bill, The Hundred Days Legislation, to create the “New Deal”. In particular, The National Industrial Recovery Act, NIRA of 1933 was a major success of the American labor movement during this time, because NIRA was a law by which President Roosevelt aided the economic recovery during the Great Depression . This bill created many successes for the labor movement that were not previously evident in past decades. For example, in the Gilded Age, the union movement failed to establish much more laborers in productions like steel, fabrics, mining, and automobiles. These, rather than skilled dexterities, were to be the foremost
He did this in order to give unions an advantage when dealing with administration. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) was a piece legislation set in place to contribute to the growth and success of the labor movement during the depression by promoting membership within a union. The main purpose of this act was to establish the permissible rights of most workforces to unite and join labor unions, as well as partake in collective bargaining with their employers . This gave unions the right to establish workforces without feeling apprehensive towards employers. The Wagner Act backed the labor-favored provisions of the NRA and established a National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the collective bargaining that took place between union representatives and management. This encouraged the growth of trade unions, finally contributing a solution to the nations depressed economy . Roosevelt hoped that the Wagener Act would stop income dormancy and under-consumption. Thus, “by encouraging the growth of trade unions, the Wager Act helped not only to raise incomes, but also to democratize the world of work by giving workers a collective choice with which to settle their grievances and organize themselves to bargain and take political action” (WBA 454). With