Labor Policy Outline

8/14/2019 Labor Policy Outline

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Labor Unrest in the 1800s

• New York. - Police beat and kill hundreds of men, women and children with billy

clubs. (1874)

• Illinois - Federal troops kill 30 workers and wound over 100 (1877)

• Louisiana - 35 unarmed sugar workers killed and two strike leaders lynched

(1887)• Pennsylvania - Seven guards and eleven strikers and spectators were shot to death

(1892)

• Pennsylvania - 19 unarmed striking coal miners and killed and 36 wounded for

refusing to disperse (1897)

• Illinois - Fourteen non-union strikers killed and 25 wounded (1898)

Progressive Movement (late 1890s – WW I)

• Activists worked to minimize adverse affects of industrialization

o Poor working conditions

o

Exploitation of consumerso Environmental hazards

o Political corruption

• Belief that more people should be involved in the political process

• Belief that government should address social concerns

Erdman Act (1898)

• Prohibited railroads that participated in interstate commerce from prohibiting

employees from joining union as a condition of employment

• Later declared unconstitutional in Supreme Court case Adair v. United States

(1908) – violated “due process” - freedom of contract and property rights. Adair

fired an employee for joining a labor union.

Department of Labor and Commerce is formed (1903)

• Bureau of Labor previously existed in Department of Interior

• Conducted census until 1913

• Established a Children’s Bureau in 1912

Lochner v. New York (1903)

• Invalidated NYS law that limited bakers’ work hours to 60/week or 10/day

• State legislation limiting work hours "interferes with the right of contract between

the employer and employees”

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

• Oregon law limited women’s work hours to 10 per day

• A laundry manager required a female employee to work more than 10 hours per

day

• Upheld the Oregon law



• Women supposedly have same rights of liberty and property as men

• “Woman's physical structure and the performance of maternal functions place her

at a disadvantage ... the physical well-being of woman becomes an object of public interest and care."

First Minimum Wage law (1912)Adopted in Massachusetts for women and minors

United States Department of Labor established (1913)

• Promotes the welfare of workers, job-seekers, and retirees

• Helps employers find employees and track economic trends

• Administers federal labor laws

World War I: 1914 to 1918

Adamson Act (1916)

• Enacted an 8 hour workday and overtime pay for railroad workers

• Passed to avert strike

Keating-Owen Act (1916)

• Illegal to ship product manufactured by child labor (under 14 years old) across

state lines any (a child being defined as under 14 years of age).

• Found unconstitutional in 1918 in Hammer v. Dagenhart.

• Reversed in United States vs. Darby, 1941

Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (1916)

• Compensates workers for job-related injury or illness• Compensates surviving dependents for job-related death

• Benefits available to over 3 million federal employees as well as members of the

Peace Corp and Americorps * Vista volunteers

National War Labor Board created (1918)

• Formed to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers

• Labor shortage gave advantage to workers

• Ruled in over 1200 cases, usually on the side of labor

• Abolished in 1919

•Reformed in 1942 then abolished for good in 1946

The Great Depression: 1929 to 1941

Railway Labor Act (1926)

• Required employers to bargain collectively

• Prohibited discrimination against unions



Davis-Bacon Act (1931)

• Requires federal government to pay prevailing wages on public works projects

• Executive order superceded the act for post-Hurricane Katrina contracts; this was

later revoked

Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932)• Gave labor unions the right to organize and strike

• Prohibited ‘yellow dog’ agreements where workers agreed not to join a union

• Barred federal courts from issuing restraining orders or injunctions against union

activity

Unemployment Insurance (1932)First state unemployment insurance act passes in Wisconsin

New Deal: 1933 - 1938Works Progress Administration - 8,500,000 laborers hired by the federal government to

construct highways, bridges, and parks

National Industry Recovery Act “Wagner Act” (1933)

• Applies to companies practicing interstate commerce except agricultural workers,

government employees, and those covered under the Railway Labor Act

• Gave workers the right to organize and join unions, choose representatives,

bargain collectively, and strike

• Upheld by NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. in 1937

National Industry Recovery Act, con’t.

•

Forbade unfair labor practiceso Interfering with union formation

o Restraining employees involved with union activity

o Imposing special conditions of employment to encourage or discourage

union membershipo Firing or discriminating against an employee who files charges or offers

testimony under the acto Refusing to bargain collectively with union

National Industry Recovery Act, con’t.

• Led to rise in union membership

o 3,584,000 members in 1935o 10,201,000 members in 1941

o 18,600,000 members in 1944

Walsh Healey Public Contracts Act (1936)

• Applies to federal contracts for those manufacturing or furnishing materials,

supplies, articles, and equipment



• Must pay same or more than prevailing minimum wage regularly paid in a

locality

• Restricted working hours to 8/day and 40/week with time and a half for additional

hours

• Prohibited employment of convicts and minors

• Established sanitation and safety standards

World War II: 1939 to 1945

Fair Labor Standards Act (1939)

• Created a ceiling over hours worked and a floor under wages for most employees

• Established federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping standards, and

child labor laws

• Exempt employees – executive, professional, administrative, outside sales, and

computer employees

•

1949 amendment prohibited child labor • Overtime – 1.5 times normal wage

• 14 to 15 year olds can work 3 hours on a school day/18 hours in a school week

and 8 hours on a non-school day/40 hours in a non-school week

• Tipped employees can have base pay as low as $2.13/hour

• States can set higher minimum wage

Minimum hourly wage of workers in jobs first covered by

Effective Date 1938 Act 1961 Amendments1966 and Subsequent

Amendments

Nonfarm Fa

24-Oct-38 $0.25

24-Oct-39 $0.30

24-Oct-45 $0.40

25-Jan-50 $0.75

1-Mar-56 $1.00

3-Sep-61 $1.15 $1.00

3-Sep-63 $1.25

3-Sep-64 $1.15

3-Sep-65 $1.251-Feb-67 $1.40 $1.40 $1.00 $1.00

1-Feb-68 $1.60 $1.60 $1.15 $1.15

1-Feb-69 $1.30 $1.30

1-Feb-70 $1.45

1-Feb-71 $1.60

1-May-74 $2.00 $2.00 $1.90 $1.60



Jan. 1, 1975 $2.10 $2.10 $2.00 $1.80

1-Jan-76 $2.30 $2.30 $2.20 $2.00

1-Jan-77 $2.30 $2.20

1-Jan-78 $2.65 for all covered, nonexempt workers




1-Apr-90 $3.80 for all covered, nonexempt workers

1-Apr-91 $4.25 for all covered, nonexempt workers

1-Oct-96 $4.75 for all covered, nonexempt workers

1-Sep-97 $5.15 for all covered, nonexempt workers

Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

•

Established procedures to delay or avert “national emergency” strikes• Excluded supervisory employees from Wagner Act coverage

• Prohibited ‘closed shops’

• Banned various types of employer payments to union officials

• Authorized lawsuits for economic losses caused by secondary boycotts and

certain strikes

Taft-Hartley Act, con’t

• Identified unfair labor practices for unions

o Restraint or coercion of workers exercising their rights to bargain through

representatives of their choiceo Coercion of employer in choice of person to represent company in

discussion with uniono Refusal to bargain collectively

o Barring workers from employment because they were denied union

membership (other than non-payment of dues)o Striking to force an employer or self-employed person to join the union

o Excessive union initiation fees

Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act “Landrum-Griffen Act” (1959)

• Amended Taft-Hartley Act

• Defined additional unfair labor practices• Banned organizational or recognition picketing

• Gave state labor relations agencies and courts jurisdiction over disputes not

considered by the National Labor Relations Board

Equal Pay Act (1963)

• Prohibited wage differences for workers based on gender



• Provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a son or daughter, adoption,

caring for a child, spouse, or parent, or a serious health condition

• Cannot be used as a negative factor in promotions, disciplinary actions, or

attendance bonuses

• Employee must be reinstated to former position or to one of equivalent pay,

benefits, and working conditions

Family and Medical Leave Act, con’t.

• Eligibility requirements

o Employers with 50 or more employees

o 50 employees within 75 miles of worksite

o 12 months of service (not necessarily consecutive)

o 1250 hours worked during previous 12 months

Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Act (1994)

• Protects civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and members of the Reserve

• Clarifies and strengthens veterans’ re-employment rights (VRR) first enacted in

1940

• Military service personnel returning to work must be re-employed in the job they

would have obtained if they were not absent for military service

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act “HIPAA” (1996)

• Protects the rights of participants in group health plans

• Limits exclusions for pre-existing conditions

• Prohibits discrimination against employees and their dependents based on health

status

Have U.S. Labor policies been successful?

No

Marxist Perspective Conservative PerspectiveDoes not thoroughly address systemic issues Interferes in marketRaises false consciousness Reduced profitability

Yes – Moderate Perspective

Improvement to working and living conditions

Labor Policy Outline

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