| Labor During the New Deal (1933-1939) |
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Sections:- FDR’s Message to Congress on Unemployment Relief (March 21, 1933)
- FDR on the National Industrial Recovery Act (June 16, 1933)
- FDR's Executive Order 6252 on the Public Works Administration (Aug. 19, 1933)
- FDR's Letter to Governor H. G. Kump of West Virginia on the Accomplishments of N.R.A. (June 15, 1934)
- Father Charles Coughlin "The Search for Social Justice" (1934)
- Letter from the American Federation of Labor on the Automobile Code to FDR (Jan. 28, 1935)
- FDR's Statement on the National Labor Relations Act (July 5, 1935)
- National Labor Relations Board Findings & Declaration of Policy
- Huey Long "Share the Wealth" Speech (January 1935)
- John L. Lewis: "Labor and the Nation" (Sept. 3, 1937)
- FDR's Labor Day Statement (September 5th, 1937)
- Supreme Court Decision on Hague, Mayor, ET AL. v. Committee for Industrial Organization (June 5, 1939)
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| Historical Context
Upon taking the oath of office, Franklin Roosevelt was faced with the mounting challenge of unemployment. At the beginning of 1933, over 12 million Americans lacked jobs. Consequently, Roosevelt, in a message to Congress, made unemployment relief a vital part of his “New Deal” legislation.Attached Documents
Roosevelt's address to Congress is included below. The second document is a photograph of an unemployment line during the Depression.
Questions to Consider
1. What are the three components of Roosevelt’s unemployment relief plan?
2. What new federal position does Roosevelt propose to oversee the implementation of this program?
3. What is the Civilian Conservation Corps? What types of work will it do?
4. How many people does Roosevelt believe can be employed by the summer? |
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| Historical Context
Designed to alleviate the unemployment crisis, Roosevelt’s National Industrial Recovery Act was designed to put people back to work through public work and to prevent future crises through better economic planning.Attached Document
A transcript of the National Industrial Recovery Act follows. Questions to Consider
1. What types of wages are some businesses guilty of paying its workers? What does Roosevelt ask of these businesses? What does he warn?
2. What benefits does business derive from a adequately-paid workforce?
3. What employment strategy does Roosevelt ask of business to put more people to work?
4. What organization does Roosevelt create to protect the interests of labor? Which federal official will appoint its members?
5. What does Roosevelt ask of business leaders to prevent the rise in prices? |
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| Historical Context
Additional actions were needed to keep the American people employed during the Depression. Roosevelt instituted many reforms to ensure the economy would keep moving in some way.Attached Document
Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6252, included below, enunciated the powers and responsibilities of the Public Works Administration.
Questions to Consider
1. In general, how many hours a week can an employee of the Public Works Administration work? What exceptions are made for this general rule?
2. What type of wage should P.W.A. workers receive? How will workers know their wage rate?
3. What are the consequences of underpaying P.W.A. employees? |
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| Historical Context
In a letter to Governor H. G. Kump of West Virginia, Roosevelt outlines the accomplishments of the National Recovery Act a year after its inception.
Attached Document
FDR's letter is included here.
Questions to Consider
1. What is the occasion of Roosevelt’s letter?
2. What right has industry been given? What rights have workers been given?
3. What former employment “evils” have nearly been abolished?
4. What accomplishments can Roosevelt’s program boast?
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| Historical Context
Father Charles Coughlin occupied both a strange and a familiar place in American politics in the 1930s. Politically radical, a passionate democrat, he nevertheless was a bigot who freely vented angry, irrational charges and assertions. A Catholic priest, he broadcast weekly radio sermons that by 1930 drew as many as forty-five million listeners. Strongly egalitarian, deeply suspicious of elites, a champion of what he saw as the ordinary person’s rights, Coughlin frequently and vigorously attacked capitalism, communism, socialism, and dictatorship By the mid-1930s, his talks took on a nasty edge as he combined harsh attacks on Roosevelt as the tool of international Jewish bankers with praise for the fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. The “Radio Priest’s” relentless anti-elitism pushed Roosevelt to sharpen his own critiques of elites, and in that sense Coughlin had a powerful impact on American politics beyond his immediate radio audience.
He began as an early Roosevelt supporter, coining a famous expression, that the nation's choice was between "Roosevelt or ruin." Later in the 1930s he turned against FDR and became one of the president's harshest critics.Attached DocumentsHis program of "social justice" was a very radical challenge to unbridled capitalism and to many of the political institutions of his day. An summary of this program is inlcuded here. In the three broadcasts reproduced here he outlines his program and responds to his critics. A photograph of Father Coughlin is included below. Questions to Consider
1. According to Coughlin, what are the two goals for the Roosevelt Administration? What is the likely outcome if these goals are not achieved?
2. According to Coughlin, what prevents the abundant resources of the United States from reaching the common citizen?
3. What errors within capitalism persist, but which must, according to Coughlin, be eradicated if democracy is to continue?
4. What arguments does Coughlin use to encourage industrialists to participate in the reform of the American economy?
5. What does Coughlin’s program recommend for America’s natural resources? |
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| Historical Context
Founded in 1886, the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) was, for the first half of the 20th century, the largest union grouping operation in the United States.Attached DocumentsIn this document, the A.F.L. explains to Roosevelt why it left a settlement between labor and industry brokered by the President. A poster promoting the AFL and Roosevelt is also found below Questions to Consider
1. What rationale does the A.F.L. use in justifying for withdrawing itself from the March 1934 agreement?
2. What is the status of the automobile industry?
3. What rights does the A.F.L. claim for automobile workers? |
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| Historical Context
Enacted into law on July 5, 1935, the National Labor Relations or Wagner Act was the single most important piece of labor legislation in the United States during the 20th century. The act was designed to remove management interference in unions and permit free & collective bargaining. The Wagner Act also established a federal agency, the National Labor Relations Board, with the power to investigate and decide unfair labor practice charges and to conduct elections in which workers were given the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to be represented by a union. The NLRB was given more extensive powers than the much weaker organization of the same name established under the National Industrial Recovery Act, which the United States Supreme Court had declared to be unconstitutional.Attached Document
In this document, Roosevelt comments on the scope and importance of the Wagner Act. Questions to Consider
1. What role does the National Labor Relations Board play in ensuring that workers are permitted to bargain collectively?
2. According to Roosevelt, what is the purpose of the act? How does the act provide for the implementation of its goals?
3. What is the function of the National Labor Relations Board in disputes between management and labor? |
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| Historical Context
Under the Wagner Act, the National Labor Relations Board became an independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting elections for labor union representation and with investigating and remedying unfair labor practices. It is governed by a five-person board and a General Counsel, all of whom are appointed by the President.Attached DocumentIn this document, the National Labor Relations Board outlines its goals and the state of unions in the United States. Questions to Consider
1. What problems has employers refusal to allow collective bargaining produced?
2. What benefits does collective bargaining provide the economy?
3. According to the National Labor Relations Board, what is the current labor policy of the United States? |
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| Historical Context
Long created the Share Our Wealth program in 1934, with the motto "Every Man a King," proposing new income redistribution measures in the form of taxes on large corporations and the wealthiest individuals to curb the poverty and crime that came as a result of the Great Depression. Immensely popular for his social reform programs and willingness to take forceful action, Long was accused by his opponents of dictatorial tendencies for his near-total control of the state government and was noted for his colorful and flamboyant character. At the height of his popularity, Long was shot at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge; he died two days later at the age of 42. His last words were reportedly, "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do."Attached Documents
In this document, Long outlines the major points of the "Share the Wealth" program. A photograph of Long giving a public speech is shown below. Questions to Consider
1. Despite the New Deal, what problems, according to Long, persist in the United States?
2. If Long’s plan is adopted, what would be the income for the average American family?
3. What does Long propose to assist the elderly? The veterans of foreign wars? |
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| Historical Context
President of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920-1960, John L. Lewis was a pivotal figure in American labor politics and was a major player in the history of coal mining. Lewis was the driving force behind the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which established the United Steel Workers of America and helped organize millions of other industrial workers in the 1930s. His work to organize the country's industrial workers through the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s helped raise living standards for millions of American families. In the first year of the CIO, nearly four million workers joined labor organizations and wages were raised by over a billion dollars. Lewis sent hundreds of UMWA organizers to help create some of the nation's leading labor unions, including the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and many other important labor organizations that continue to speak in behalf of America's workers.
Thanks to the Wagner Act of 1935, labor union membership grew rapidly, especially in the coal mines. Lewis and the UMW were major backers of Roosevelt's reelection in 1936. Lewis sent his best organizers into heavy industry in 1935-37, to organize the auto workers, the glass workers, the rubber workers and others. He supported the illegal sit-down strike (but did not use that tactic in the mines). When the AFL balked at organizing unskilled workers, Lewis withdrew his unions and formed a new organization, the CIO. By 1937-40 the CIO was spending as much time fighting the AFL as organizing, with the result that union political power was divided against itself. During the late-1930s struggle over the AFL's refusal to organize mass production workers, Green became the target of some of Lewis' sharpest attacks.Attached Documents
In this speech, Lewis outlines the goals of the organization. The second document below is a political cartoon of FDR and Lewis. The third document is a political cartoon pitting Lewis and William Green, president of the AFL against each other. The final document is a Time Magazine with Lewis' on the cover. Questions to Consider
1. What are the goals of the Committee for Industrial Organization?
2. What has led workers to form the Committee for Industrial Organization? What rights do they claim?
3. How large is the Committee for Industrial Organization? What types of trade belong to it?
4. What percentage of the steel industry is unionized?
5. What tactics have some steel industry leaders adopted to thwart the rights of workers?
6. Describe the two strikes in Chicago & Ohio, how many demonstrators were killed? How did the government condone the attacks against the strikers?
7. How has the United States Chamber of Commerce & the National Association of Manufacturers tried to block the organization of workers?
8. According to Lewis, how does unionization differ from communism? |
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| Historical Context
Attached Document
In this speech, Roosevelt pays tribute to labor’s contribution and discusses the recent conflict between capital and labor.
Questions to Consider
1. What is the background for Roosevelt’s speech? Which two groups had been recently quarrelling?
2. What is the goal of the Roosevelt administration in mitigating the dispute?
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| Historical Context
In 1937, Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Frank "Boss" Hague used a city ordinance to prevent labor meetings in public places and stop the distribution of literature pertaining to the cause of the Committee for Industrial Organization. Referring to them as "communist," Hague used the machinery of the city to thwart the CIO’s meetings and efforts to secure workers’ rights.
The CIO responded by brining a suit against Hague. In 1939, the district and circuit courts ruled in favor of the CIO. Hague appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled against him and held that Hague's ban on political meetings violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly.Attached Documents
In this document, Justice Roberts explains his position on the case. A photograph of Mayor Hague is included. Questions to Consider
1. What have the petitioners done against the labor activists? How have they justified this?
2. How have the petitioners discriminated against the respondents?
3. What has happened to labor’s attempts to apply for city permits to hold meetings?
4. According to Justice Roberts, what is the goal of the respondents?
5. How does Roberts interpret the Fourteenth Amendment in this case?
6. In regards to labor’s use of public places, what is Robert’s argument?
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