TUs New Deal Flashcards
Negative view
The New Deal let down working people and was a missed opportunity.
Roosevelt was too favourable to the interests of big business - a far more radical solution was needed.
Roosevelt was not favourable towards unions, and allowed employers to retain too much power and influence.
Santos
“It has protected the trusts more than the American people”
Ford intransigence
Ford refused to recognise the NIRA or Wagner
Jones
Writing in the Socialist Worker, argues that FDR exploited a “massive army of unemployed workers” into “improving schools, hospitals and infrastructure”
Clements
“unions looked to Roosevelt for help, but he upset them by doing nothing”
NIRA’s limited influence
Many big employers like Henry Ford refused to sign the codes
NIRA favouring employers
Codes generally favoured employers rather than employees, although they did stabilise relations between workers and employers
NIRA by 1935
By 1935 business confidence was returning and the codes were starting to be seen as too restrictive
The NIRA was ruled unconstitutional in 1935 and came to an end
Wagner Act restrictions
If the majority of worker wanted a union then the government had to agree, and negotiate with the workers over wages, hours and working conditions
Elections for union representatives had to be supervised
AFL focus
The AFL focused on amalgamating craft unions at the expense of unskilled labour
CIO
A breakaway group was formed called the Congress of Industrial Organisation (CIO) in 1937 to represent the interests of unskilled workers
African American and ethnic minority workers benefited from the CIO due to its focus on equality
Violence against demonstrators
Violence against union members continued, for example 10 demonstrators were shot in the back at a demonstration at the Republic Steel Company in 1937.
Bringing charges against employers
It was not until 1946 that employees could bring charges against employers for unfair work practices.
FLSA - differentials in pay
The FLSA upheld pay differentials, for example for women and unskilled and agricultural workers.
Lack of SSA inclusion
The Social Security Act was limited by the fact that it did not include farmers and domestic servants, and that all members had to pay the same amount, regardless of income.
Provision only began in 1942
Zinn on unions
Argues that improved union representation was in some way a regression for workers as employers actually found it easier to predict, manage and quash industrial action when it was organised (as opposed to spontaneous)
Smith Connolly Act
The 1943 Smith Connolly Act authorised the President to seize striking plants and forced unions to give 30 days’ notice before striking.
Mixed-negative view
The New Deal helped workers to some extent in the short-term, but it was a missed opportunity for longer term change to the institutions and systems which created poverty and inequality.
Zinn on Roosevelt
“Enough help was given to make Roosevelt a hero to millions, but the same system … remained”
Mixed-positive view
The New Deal had many successes, but Roosevelt was hampered by a number of constraints which meant he could not do as much as he wanted to.
Nonetheless, he did the best could in the circumstances and overall there was an improved situation for working people.
Some gains were made, but any dramatic improvement turned out to be very short-term.
Leuchtenberg
Endorses the “standard liberal view” that while the New Deal was flawed, it was also revolutionary, as Roosevelt helped those in society previously neglected
Johnson
Highly critical of the New Deal for allowing Trade Unions to obtain too many rights, but acknowledges that these were short-term gains which were reversed.
Positive view
Very successful series of measures which dramatically improved the position of working people in the USA, both on an individual basis and collectively.
It represents the high point of trade union and labour rights in the United States.
FDR used his position to enshrine labour rights in law.
Unions were highly effective in growing their membership and influencing the government and employers.
Willoughby
“It is clear that significant progress was made in recognising the rights of labour”
Jones
Considers the 1930s saw organised labour “advance spectacularly”
Nelson
“Workers constituted the heart of the Roosevelt coalition”
NIRA background
The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA, 1933) devised and ran a series of codes for industries which would control production, prices, wages, labour relations and trading practices.
NIRA positive changes
A 40 hour working week was introduced along with a minimum weekly wage of $12-$13
Children under 16 were banned from working
National Recovery Administration actions
Management, labour and government met together to agree the codes
The standardisation of working practices and government support for collective bargaining continued after the end of the NRA
NRA pledges
2 million people initially pledged to follow the codes; by 1934, 557 codes had been agreed by joining companies, covering 23 million workers
NLRB creation
In 1935, the Wagner Act created the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) which would preside over labour/management relations and enabled unions to have collective bargaining rights with Federal Government support.
NRLB abilitites
The board was made up of 5 people and had the power to bargain on behalf of workers and to stop companies using blacklists and company unions
The NRLB could reinstate dismissed workers
Complaints about employers’ unfair work practices had to be heard
‘Closed shops’ were permitted
Employers were banned from using spies to infiltrate the workforce or unions and also from blacklisting alleged ‘agitators’
Wagner Act court support
The Act was ruled constitutional in 1937
New Deal and trade unions
Established labour union membership and the right to elect representatives to undertake collective bargaining as a right.
This was the first time the weight of Federal government support was put behind unions and workers’ rights
Union membership rise
The labour movement was revitalised, especially in heavy industry
Union membership rose from 3.7 million in 1933 to 9 million in 1938
Recognition of unions
In 1937 General Motors and Chrysler recognised the Union of Auto Workers (which had 400,000 members by the end of 1937)
In the same year, US Steel recognised the Steelworkers Organising Committee
FLSA background
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 set a minimum wage of 40c per hour/$25 per week as well as a maximum working week of 40 hours for businesses involved in interstate commerce and workers not in unions.
Any time over 40 hours would be worked at time and a half
Better wages and shorter working weeks were protected in statute, for all workers, rather than having to be negotiated by unions
FLSA impact
By 1940 the wages of 12 million workers had been increased through the Act
Social Security Act benefits
The Social Security Act of 1935 introduced retirement payments of $10-85 per month for over 65s.
It also introduced unemployment insurance and additional assistance for the disabled and dependant women and children
Fair Employment Practices Commission
The 1941 Fair Employment Practices Commission attempted to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination in war-time industries.
Welfare reforms
Helped some of the poorest families, as long as they were properly implemented at local level.
State government role
Innovations such as the Tennessee Valley Authority demonstrated that State governments could play a productive role in improving rights and opportunities for workers.
CIO benefits
The CIO represented a major step forward in achieving union representation for unskilled and minority workers.
Sympathetic appointments
FDR appointed Perkins and other people sympathetic to organised labour
Role of workers in voting
1936 - workers from the AFL were critical in Roosevelt’s 46-state landslide
