TUs New Deal

Question 1

Negative view

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Santos

Answer 2

“It has protected the trusts more than the American people”

Question 3

Ford intransigence

Answer 3

Ford refused to recognise the NIRA or Wagner

Question 4

Jones

Answer 4

Writing in the Socialist Worker, argues that FDR exploited a “massive army of unemployed workers” into “improving schools, hospitals and infrastructure”

Question 5

Clements

Answer 5

“unions looked to Roosevelt for help, but he upset them by doing nothing”

Question 6

NIRA’s limited influence

Answer 6

Many big employers like Henry Ford refused to sign the codes

Question 7

NIRA favouring employers

Answer 7

Codes generally favoured employers rather than employees, although they did stabilise relations between workers and employers

Question 8

NIRA by 1935

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Wagner Act restrictions

Answer 9

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

Question 10

AFL focus

Answer 10

The AFL focused on amalgamating craft unions at the expense of unskilled labour

Question 11

CIO

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Violence against demonstrators

Answer 12

Violence against union members continued, for example 10 demonstrators were shot in the back at a demonstration at the Republic Steel Company in 1937.

Question 13

Bringing charges against employers

Answer 13

It was not until 1946 that employees could bring charges against employers for unfair work practices.

Question 14

FLSA - differentials in pay

Answer 14

The FLSA upheld pay differentials, for example for women and unskilled and agricultural workers.

Question 15

Lack of SSA inclusion

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Zinn on unions

Answer 16

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)

Question 17

Smith Connolly Act

Answer 17

The 1943 Smith Connolly Act authorised the President to seize striking plants and forced unions to give 30 days’ notice before striking.

Question 18

Mixed-negative view

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Zinn on Roosevelt

Answer 19

“Enough help was given to make Roosevelt a hero to millions, but the same system … remained”

Question 20

Mixed-positive view

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Leuchtenberg

Answer 21

Endorses the “standard liberal view” that while the New Deal was flawed, it was also revolutionary, as Roosevelt helped those in society previously neglected

Question 22

Johnson

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Positive view

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Willoughby

Answer 24

“It is clear that significant progress was made in recognising the rights of labour”

Question 25

Jones

Answer 25

Considers the 1930s saw organised labour “advance spectacularly”

Question 26

Nelson

Answer 26

“Workers constituted the heart of the Roosevelt coalition”

Question 27

NIRA background

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

NIRA positive changes

Answer 28

A 40 hour working week was introduced along with a minimum weekly wage of $12-$13

Children under 16 were banned from working

Question 29

National Recovery Administration actions

Answer 29

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

Question 30

NRA pledges

Answer 30

2 million people initially pledged to follow the codes; by 1934, 557 codes had been agreed by joining companies, covering 23 million workers

Question 31

NLRB creation

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

NRLB abilitites

Answer 32

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’

Question 33

Wagner Act court support

Answer 33

The Act was ruled constitutional in 1937

Question 34

New Deal and trade unions

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Union membership rise

Answer 35

The labour movement was revitalised, especially in heavy industry

Union membership rose from 3.7 million in 1933 to 9 million in 1938

Question 36

Recognition of unions

Answer 36

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

Question 37

FLSA background

Answer 37

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

Question 38

FLSA impact

Answer 38

By 1940 the wages of 12 million workers had been increased through the Act

Question 39

Social Security Act benefits

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Fair Employment Practices Commission

Answer 40

The 1941 Fair Employment Practices Commission attempted to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination in war-time industries.

Question 41

Welfare reforms

Answer 41

Helped some of the poorest families, as long as they were properly implemented at local level.

Question 42

State government role

Answer 42

Innovations such as the Tennessee Valley Authority demonstrated that State governments could play a productive role in improving rights and opportunities for workers.

Question 43

CIO benefits

Answer 43

The CIO represented a major step forward in achieving union representation for unskilled and minority workers.

Question 44

Sympathetic appointments

Answer 44

FDR appointed Perkins and other people sympathetic to organised labour

Question 45

Role of workers in voting

Answer 45

1936 - workers from the AFL were critical in Roosevelt’s 46-state landslide