The racially unified front presented by the miners shows how beyond their time these miners were in this respect. This unity was a significant step forward in the labor movement and foreshadowed the broader civil rights advancements that would follow decades later. The legacy of the Battle of Blair Mountain is seen in its contribution to subsequent labor victories, including the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935, which provided legal protections for unions and collective bargaining. Additionally, the New Deal policies under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which improved labor conditions and strengthened union power, can trace part of their roots back to the labor struggles seen back in the Blair Mountain
During the second new deal, he changed direction because his popular support began to ebb. During the summer of 1935, also known as the ‘second hundred days,’ he passed progressive legislation that dedicated the government to providing a minimum level of social and economic protection. It had three major initiatives: the Works Progress Administration, the Wagner Act, and the Social Security Act. The Wagner-Connery National Labor relations act guaranteed the labor unions the right to organize and bargain collectively, and establish national labor relations bound to enforce these rights. It also curbed the use of practices like blacklisting, and union membership grew to over 13 million during WWII.
While the programs of the First New Deal were left-wing and progressive, some liberals decided that it had not gone far enough to help the common people. When the National Industrial Recovery Act was declared unconstitutional in 1935, employers once again began treating their workers unfairly. Worker strikes were broken up violently, and they could not achieve their rights without government assistance. This problem was combatted with the Wagner Act, which gave workers the right to unionize and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Additionally, liberals such as physician Francis Townsend and Senator Huey P. Long called for government pensions for the elderly in order to open jobs for the unemployed and simulate the economy.
In the Taft-Hartley Act, the US Congress demonstrated this by demolishing the rights of worker unions and strikes, giving the employers overwhelming control over the lives of employees. The National Labor Relations Act, or Wagner Act, passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, previously protected the strikes and collective bargaining of employees and labor unions. However, with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, labor unions were much weaker than before, and many even branded this act as the “slave-labor act.” “To pass the Taft-hartley Act that lifted many of the protections organized labor had enjoyed since the passage of the Wagner Act in the 1930s” (Fraser 754). With the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, many of the rights that protected the rights of workers to collectively bargain with their employers without any risk of losing their jobs and union strikes, were significantly weakened.
In 1935, the United States passed the Wagner Act which enables more workers rights and gave the right to join/form unions and participate in collective bargaining. But this was not to be passed before many workers began to form unions and were refused that ability. Many riots and strikes were put into place to try and protect their rights. Some strikes became violent resulting in deaths, while others just created trouble for the workers. These efforts without initial government backing caused many problems but many changes.
Therefore farmers could then pay off any debt that they had. Another program was the NIRA. This program made wages higher, helped spur union drives, supported union drives and over all gets businesses back on track for recovery. This program leads into the Wagner Act and WPA. The Wagner Act strengthened unions and gave union’s federal government support.
The Emergency Banking Act shut down all banks and only allowed them to reopen once they had under gone a government inspection. This Act began to restore trust in the banking system for many Americans. Franklin Roosevelt increased the government's power by making the National labor Relations Board (NLRB). When The Wagner Act was made it changed the role of the government by adding social justice to the government's responsibility of what to provide to citizens, political rights and economic security. Another program that provided reform was social security; social security gave pensions to elderly workers, along with many other benefits to
The ramifications of the Great Depression extended far beyond the borders of the United States, impacting countries globally. The labor movement faced immense challenges during this period as soaring unemployment decimated union ranks and bargaining power. However, a turning point emerged as unions regained strength and a surge of militancy took hold by 1933-1934. Two critical factors drove this revival: 1) the pro-labor provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), and 2) the New Deal's economic relief and job creation programs putting people back to work and reinvigorating consumer demand. Section 7a of the NIRA proved instrumental to labor's restoration by granting employees the right to join unions and bargain collectively
This provided unemployment compensation and was also the way of the government to assist the disabled, otherwise known as the “deserving poor”. Following this act, came another by the name of the Wagner Act also in 1935. This act legitimized labor unions and sanctioned the legality to form labor unions. It also protected one from getting fired for joining a labor union, and stated that companies must engage in collective bargaining – capital must negotiate with labor. Individuals were happy to get jobs and recoup their self-worth.
The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act of 1935, strengthened labor unions and gave employees greater power at work by guaranteeing their ability to organize and bargain collectively. In order to guarantee bank deposits and stop bank runs, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was established by the Banking Act of 1933, generally referred to as the Glass-Steagall Act, which brought about extensive changes to the banking
The Wagner Act of 1935, also known as the National Labor Relations Act, guaranteed workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, strengthening labor unions and giving workers a greater voice in the
The Roosevelt administration’s pro union stance and legislation passed by congress during the new deal contributed to the gains of the labor union made during the Great Depression. Collective bargaining was allowed by the National Industrial Recovery Act. Collective bargaining is the negotiation of wages and other condition of employment by an organized group of employees. The NIRA was another measure of Franklin Roosevelt to assist the nation in economic recovery, which supervised fair codes and guaranteed laborers a right to collective bargaining. The depression also had an impact on minorities and women.
After the expiration of this act, President Roosevelt extended to “protect children, to enforce minimum wages, to prevent excessive hours… while retaining fair competition” (Roosevelt, “Fireside Chat 1933” 3). The National Industrial Recovery Act’s primary goal was to establish a good work environment for industrial workers and to limit industrial competition. This act protected the lower class immensely, because they were finally receiving rights that protected them. Additionally, this act also place limits on the rich because it forbade unfair practices that only benefited them and not the lower class. This act helped Americans surpass the Great Depression because it allowed businesses to recover by limiting competition, which reduced unemployment rates since people were able to get jobs with fair wages and hours.
Some people said that the Wagner Act denied their liberty because they were, in some cases, being required to join a union for a job. People were upset that some employers were requiring you to join a union and then have to pay a membership fee. They felt that they were not
The "vague" policy allowed labor organizers to assert workers could make patriotic contributions by joining unions. Immediatley them impact could be seen as stated in Who build America,"By June 17, the day after Roosevelt signed the NIRA,80 percent of Ohio miners had signed union cars"(Rosenzweigh 430).Such a high burst in participation just displays how high of an impact government policies in encouraging union participation can have. The highly advertised act in the mining fields made these workers feel safe and empowered to join the re emerging labor movement. Yet it wasn 't enough the vagueness of the wording and the lack of enforcement mechanism permitted by the act lead Roosevelt to later implement the Wagner act.
