wagneract

__** National Labor Relations Act a.k.a. Wagner Act **__  __Script__: FDR: //My fellow Americans, it is time for the workers of this nation and the police to end their violent confrontations; it is time for these strikes to finally end! With this National Labor Relations Act, I promise you that workers will have the right to join in unions without any fear of the management of reprisal. This Act will make sure that t////here will be no labor practices that are unfair as well as reject the working people from receiving a union contract. The employees will have the right to be self-organized and to be able to assist, join, or to be able to form labor organizations and be allowed to bargain collectively to their own choosing through representatives as well as for mutual aid and protection. This National Labor Relations Act in addition, will protect the employees in strikes, picketing, and on-the-job protests as well as the people who take part in grievances. It will be made illegal for employer discrimination for the workers who are taking part in collective activities or who are in a union. It shall be also made illegal for refusing any bargain of good faith with any union representative along with worker restraint, force, or interference that is directly against a union. We have nothing to fear but fear itself, thank you.//



Immediate Impact: Before the law, employers could do whatever they wanted to do to union members. When the employees tried to organize and strike, hostile skirmishes would often erupt. The Act created the National Labor Relations Board to stop unethical practices and bias against union members. After the Act was passed, workers were free to form unions as they pleased. By 1945, Union rolls reached 35 percent of the work force.

Lasting Impact: The National Labor Relations Board is still around today, but it doesn't have as much power as it used to. Employers and opponents of unions succeeded in passing the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, which said unions could be restrained and sued for strikes, boycotts, etc. Further restrictions were put on the board with the passing of the Landrum-Griffin Act in 1959.

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