WAGNER ACT 49 Stat. 449 (1935)

Named after the New York senator who introduced and fought for it, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) extended the protection of the United States to organized labor. Robert Wagner framed the act to provide a constitutional basis for the protections given to labor by section 7(a) of the national industrial recovery act (NIRA) and by a National Labor Relations Board, which had been established and was operating under the sole authority of Public Resolution 44 and an executive order. The Supreme Court confirmed the need for new legislation when, eleven days after the NLRA's enactment, it voided the NIRA in schechter poultry corp. v. united states (1935).

Congress based the Wagner Act on the commerce clause : the denial by employers of employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively caused "strikes and other forms of industrial strife or unrest, which have the intent or necessary effect of burdening or obstructing [interstate] commerce." Congress added that unequal bargaining positions had exacerbated national economic instability. One section of the act guaranteed employees the right to organize, "to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing," and to act together to further these ends. Another section reinforced these rights by delineating employers' obligations; it defined and prohibited "unfair labor practices," including interference with the exercise of the above-mentioned rights, or discrimination to encourage or discourage union formation, administration, or membership. This section also outlawed discrimination against an employee for filing a complaint against his employer under the act and made it illegal to refuse to bargain collectively with a union's legal representative.

The act also provided for a National Labor Relations Board with broad supervisory powers to administer its provisions. The Board could issue complaints, hear and determine charges, and issue cease-and-desist orders which were enforceable upon application to federal circuit courts. Congress further empowered the board to hold representation elections and to certify the winner.

Wagner drafted the act carefully so that it would withstand scrutiny by the Supreme Court. Section 1—outlining the NLRA's policy—was rewritten after the decision in Schechter to specify the burdens placed upon interstate commerce by labor unrest. The act's policy statement attributed that discord to the denial of workers' rights which this act would secure. Wagner's diligence paid off. A 5–4 majority of the Court upheld the NLRA in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937). (See wagner act cases.) The Wagner Act provided for strong independent unions in an effort to promote collective bargaining. By thus indirectly stimulating higher wages and increased consumer demand, the act helped guarantee a stable national economy and social justice for American labor. The taft-hartley labor management relations act, passed in 1947 partly to plug loopholes in the NLRA, governed union conduct much as employers' actions had earlier been regulated.

David Gordon
(1986)

Bibliography

Millis, Harry A. and Brown, Emily C. 1950 From the Wagner Act to Taft-Hartley: A Study of National Labor Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Taylor, Benjamin J. and Witney, Fred (1970) 1975 Labor Relations Law, 2nd ed. Pages 134–199. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.