New Deal and TUs Flashcards
Positive View Hypothesis + Quote
the New Deal was the best ever time for trade unionism in the USA, dramatically helping both working people individually and the union movement as a whole the 1930s witnessed the greatest advancement in TU rights of the whole period
- “Workers constituted the heart of the Roosevelt coalition” - Nelson
- According to Boyer, the New Deal was “a program openly geared towards the needs of the poor, the disadvantaged, and workers”
Mixed-Positive View Hypothesis + Historian
Although it could be considered by some standards to be a missed opportunity, the New Deal hugely enhanced workers’ rights in many respects, and FDR did well given his constraints
- Leuchtenberg endorses the “standard liberal view” that the New Deal was revolutionary but flawed, as Roosevelt helped those in society previously neglected by the FG
Mixed-negative view + Quote
The New Deal helped workers to some extent in the short-term, but it was a missed opportunity to fundamentally change the institutions of repression
- Zinn (Strongly left-wing historian) argues Roosevelt did enough to save the US but the same “system of waste, inequality, of concern for profit over human needs - remained”
Negative/Marxist view + Quote
The New Deal did not help working people and Roosevelt did not sympathise with their plight - it gave too much power to employers and did not benefit workers anywhere near enough
- Jonny Jones, writing in the Socialist Worker, argues that FDR exploited a “massive army of unemployed workers” into “improving schools, hospitals and infrastructure”
- Clements, who is not a Marxist, claimed that “unions looked to Roosevelt for help, but he upset them by doing nothing”
The period prior to the New Deal
- 3.7 million TU members by 1933, down from 5 million in 1920
- Many Sectors non-unionised
- Welfare Capitalism
- ‘Yellow Dog Contracts’
- <10% of non-agricultural workers unionised
- 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act- Recognises right to strike peacefully. BUT not related to TU’s and big business ignored it
- Decline during the boom of the 1920s
- 1929: 921 strikes with just under 300,000 workers involved
- Due to the Great Depression, those in work pleased to have a job so little incentive to bargain or strike due to large labour supply.
- Employers still had the right to sack workers if they went on strike
- Presidents indifferent and the government pursues a “Laissez-faire” approach
What symbol could companies display when joining the NRA
Blue eagle symbol
Wagner Act (National Labour Relations Act)
1935
- The Wagner Act recognised the right to workers to form trade unions outside of company control
- Wagner Act recognised the right of workers to elect their own representatives to take part in collective bargaining.
- Essentially was the first act in law which committed the federal government to an important labour relations role.
- In turn, this facilitated the expansion of union membership:
- 1933- 3.7 million members
- 1938- 9 million members (4 million more than in 1918)
- Wagner Act also permitted ‘closed shops’ (workplaces where one union dominates and workers have to belong to that union)
- The dubious practice of employers organising spies on the shop floor and blacklisting alleged ‘agitators’ was banned
Recognition of the UAW
- Some major employers initially resisted the pressure from workers but eventually caved in such as: General Motors and Chrysler recognised the Union of Auto Workers (UAW) which boasted 400,000 members by 1937. Ford eventually recognised the UAW in 1941
Steel Unions
- US Steel accepted The Steelworkers Organizing Committee in 1937
Impact of CIO
- Establishment of CIO in 1935 unskilled labour in mass production industries such as steel, automobiles and glass began to become organized.
- CIO also benefited black and immigrant workers and the groups gathered 3.7 million members in the process.
- General Motors and US Steel finally recognised unions
NRA codes on Striking and collective bargaining
- Most significant NRA code was law which mandated that workers had the right to organise Trade Unions and take part in collective bargaining. Eval: Whilst there was still no right to strike, there shouldn’t be any need as government should mediate suitable agreements
Was there an incentive to strike in this period?
- Due to numerous government contracts given out as a result of the Wagner Act, there was little incentive for workers to strike
National Labour Relations Board
- 5 man National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was set up to ensure fair play and that employers were not engaging in discriminatory policies against unionists.
- NLRB had the power to negotiate on behalf of the workers
Types of strikes used
- By the end of the 1930s, strikers were using ‘sit-in’ or ‘sit-down’ strikes which had success in 1936 when the UAW gained recognition from car manufacturers of the right of workers to form a union. Eval: Henry Ford held out until 1941 and success of these types of strikes was dependent on the political climate at the time. At this moment it was favourable to trade unions, but was not after WW2 and these protests were met with violence.
NIRA and the NRA
- National Industrial Recovery Act (June 1933)- The act established the National Recovery Administration (NRA)
- Aim of the NRA was to foster cooperation between different sides of industry to agree on codes of practice about issues such as production levels, wage rates, working hours, etc.. Effectively government is made the mediator between unions and employers
