That Union Thing
Origins of the Labor Movement…Part 5: Major Developments in the 20th Century
The 1926 Railway Labor Act was the first to guarantee workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain. The 1933 National Industry Recovery Act gave this right to all employees, but this was later struck down by the Supreme Court. This was finally achieved in 1935 with the National Labor Relations Act, which attempted to tip the balance of power to equality between employer and employee. It gave power to the National Labor Relations Board to handle industrial disputes and to enforce its decisions.
Other major legislation of the 20th century:
- 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (established a $.25 minimum wage and 44 hour workweek)
- 1943 Smith-Connelly Bill (over FDR veto): allowed presidential intervention in strikes during the war effort; prohibited union funds from being used as political contributions
- 1947 Taft-Hartley (over Truman veto): gave freedom for antiunion campaigns, prohibited secondary boycotts/jurisdictional campaigns, banned the closed shop, let states ban union shops, allowed unions to be sued for breach of contract, required 60 day notice to terminate/modify contract, allowed the president to call an 8-day injunction against strikes in a national emergency
- 1959 Landrum-Giffith Act (because of racketeering/corruption): established democratic union election procedures, guaranteed protection of union funds and rights of members
- 1963 Equal Pay Act
- 1964 Civil Rights Act (EOE)
- 1967 Age Discrimination In Employment Act
- 1970 Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA)
- 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
- 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
Union News
From AFL-CIO Work in Progress
The majority of 120 nurse aides and other support staff at the Darcy Hall of Lifecare nursing home in West Palm Beach, voted to join SEIU July 10.
STUDENT PROTESTERS ENDURE, WIN—Members of Florida State University's United Students Against Sweatshops who protested the school's contracts using overseas sweatshops tore down their 114-day-old tent city and declared victory July 17 in Tallahassee. FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte said he would meet with a Worker Rights Consortium representative and guaranteed 12 student protestors would not be expelled or suspended.
Garment workers at Point Blank Body Armor in Oakland Park are working to win support for recognition of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) at their workplace.
On February 28 nursing assistants and housekeeping, dietary, and laundry workers at the Mt. Sinai facility in Miami Shores voted in favor of joining SEIU.
Write reply
Comments must be approved before being published.
