The National Labor Relations Act
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The New Deal increased rights for labor (workers)


    President Roosevelt pushed for creation of a law called the National Labor Relations Act.  This new law was passed by Congress in 1935.  It gave a clear legal right for workers to organize and join labor unions.

    An important part of the new law allowed federal officials to supervise elections held by workers to set up unions.  This was intended to make sure workers were not bullied by their employers against voting.

   The photo on the right from 1941 shows workers in a Ford factory near Detroit voting to join the United Auto Workers union.










Below:  A large majority of workers at the Ford factory supported joining
the United Auto Workers union.  After the vote, the company agreed to hold
talks with the union leaders about wages and work conditions, as the law required.
As a result, workers won higher wages and also extra pay if they were
assigned to the night shift or worked overtime.












In what category in the chart below should the
National Labor Relations Act of 1935 be placed?












The union vote photos are from the Library of Congress. 
The New Deal
chart is by David Burns
Some images have been edited or resized for this page.




Copyright Notice

   Copyright 2009, 2016 by David Burns.  All rights reserved.  As a guide to the Virginia Standards of Learning, some pages necessarily include phrases or sentences from that document, which is available online from the Virginia Department of Education.  The author's copyright extends to the original text and graphics, unique design and layout, and related material.