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TheNational Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as theWagner Act, is a federal law signed by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt (D) as part of the New Deal on July 5, 1935, that established the legal right for workers to join labor unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employers. The Wagner Act also strengthened theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to oversee collective bargaining activities, resolve labor disputes, ensure transparent union elections, and prohibit workplace discrimination against union members, among other provisions.^[1][2]

Background

During the 1930s, President Roosevelt sought to mitigate the growing unrest between American workers and employers, which had resulted in strikes across the country. TheNational Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) passed in 1933 and provided workers with the right to bargain collectively. However, the collective bargaining protections were weak, and other provisions of the law pertaining to industrial codes were struck down as unconstitutional in 1935. Employers subverted the remaining collective bargaining protections by breaking strikes and establishing non-independent company unions, which allowed employers to maintain their influence while ostensibly fulfilling the requirements of the law. Though theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was established in 1934, it lacked the enforcement authority to ensure employer compliance with the NIRA's collective bargaining protections.^[3][4]

The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act for its sponsor, U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner (D-N.Y.), passed in 1935 and reestablished the legal right for workers to join labor unions and enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employers. The Wagner Act also created a stronger NLRB to oversee collective bargaining activities—allowing the board to arbitrate labor disputes, ensure transparent union elections, and prohibit workplace discrimination against union members, among other provisions. According to the Roosevelt Institute, the legislation also "defined and prohibited five unfair labor practices by employers, including interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees against their rights; interfering with the formation of a labor organization; discriminating against employees to encourage or discourage forming a union; discriminating against employees who file charges or testify; and refusing to bargain collectively with the employees’ representative."^[4][5]

Upon signing the legislation on July 5, 1935, President Roosevelt stated:

The Wagner Act applied to all employers engaged in interstate commerce, except for those involved in railroads, airlines, domestic work, agriculture, or government. Following the passage of the Wagner Act, union membership in the United States grew to an estimated 9 million workers by 1940, including roughly 800,000 women.^[1][3][4]

Provisions

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Enforcement

The Wagner Act strengthened theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to serve in an enforcement capacity. The Act charged the NLRB with investigating and arbitrating labor disputes as well as certifying union elections to determine labor representatives.^[7]

Collective bargaining

The Wagner Act guarantees employees the right to enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employers. Section 157 states:

Unfair labor practices

The Wagner Act prohibits certain activities by employers that the law defined as unfair labor practices (ULPs). The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 amended the Wagner Act to include a series of ULPs by labor organizations.^[9][10]

Unfair labor practices by employers

According to the Legal Information Institute, the Wagner Act established the following ULPs by employers:

Unfair labor practices by labor organizations

According to the Legal Information Institute, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 amended the Wagner Act to include the following ULPs by labor organizations:

Amending statutes

Below is a partial list of subsequent laws that amended provisions of the Wagner Act:^[11]

• Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 amended the Wagner Act to include unfair labor practices (ULPs) by labor organizations and prohibit secondary boycotts—situations in which a union puts pressure on an employer for conducting business with a separate entity engaged in a dispute with the union.^[10]
• Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 amended the Wagner Act and the Taft-Hartley Act in response to what the NLRB describes as a time when "the labor movement was under intense Congressional scrutiny for corruption, racketeering, and other misconduct." Amendments included provisions to strengthen the ban on secondary boycotts and limit certain picketing activities, among other modifications.^[12]

Noteworthy events

U.S. Supreme Court upholds employer arbitration agreements, declines to applyChevron deference

On Monday, May 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that arbitration agreements between employers and employees are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The Supreme Court ruling reversed and remanded a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which had ruled that the agreement violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and was not enforceable under the FAA.

The case involved a dispute between Epic Systems Corporation and a group of its employees regarding an arbitration agreement for wage-and-hour claims. In writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch observed that the case did not qualify forChevron deference—a principle of judicial review in which a federal court defers to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute that the agency administers.Chevron did not apply, according to Gorsuch, because no ambiguity existed in the NLRA statute, which is administered by theNational Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Instead, Gorsuch wrote that the NLRB had sought to "interpret [the NLRA] in a way that limits the work of the Arbitration Act, which the agency does not administer."

Gorsuch further stated that Congress had put forth clear instructions for the enforcement of arbitration agreements in the NLRA and that any effort to change the policy must come from Congress itself. He wrote, "The policy may be debatable but the law is clear: Congress has instructed that arbitration agreements like those before us must be enforced as written. While Congress is of course always free to amend this judgment, we see nothing suggesting it did so in the NLRA—much less that it manifested a clear intention to displace the Arbitration Act.”^[13][14]

See also

• Pendleton Act
• Administrative Procedure Act
• Interstate Commerce Act
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• Federalism

External links

• National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)
• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

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Gardner •A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States •Association of Data Processing Service Organizations v. Camp •Auer v. Robbins •Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council •Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe •Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Standard Oil Company of California •Field v. Clark •Food and Drug Administration v. Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation •Humphrey's Executor v. United States •Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) v. Chadha •J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States •Lucia v. SEC •Marshall v. Barlow's •Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency •Mistretta v. United States •National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) v. Sebelius •National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning Company •National Labor Relations Board v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. •Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan •Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corporation •Skidmore v. Swift & Co. •United States v. Lopez •United States v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. •Universal Camera Corporation v. National Labor Relations Board •Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council •Wayman v. Southard •Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service •Whitman v. American Trucking Associations •Wickard v. Filburn •Wiener v. United States Terms Adjudication (administrative state) •Administrative judge •Administrative law •Administrative law judge •Administrative state •Arbitrary-or-capricious test •Auer deference •Barrier to entry •Bootleggers and Baptists •Chevron deference (doctrine) •Civil servant •Civil service •Code of Federal Regulations •Codify (administrative state) •Comment period •Compliance costs •Congressional Record •Coordination (administrative state) •Deference (administrative state) •Direct and indirect costs (administrative state) •Enabling statute •Ex parte communication (administrative state) •Executive agency •Federal law •Federal Register •Federalism •Final rule •Formal rulemaking •Formalism (law) •Functionalism (law) •Guidance (administrative state) •Hybrid rulemaking •Incorporation by reference •Independent federal agency •Informal rulemaking •Joint resolution of disapproval (administrative state) •Major rule •Negotiated rulemaking •Nondelegation doctrine •OIRA prompt letter •Organic statute •Pragmatism (law) •Precautionary principle •Promulgate •Proposed rule •Publication rulemaking •Regulatory budget •Regulatory capture •Regulatory dark matter •Regulatory impact analysis •Regulatory policy officer •Regulatory reform officer •Regulatory review •Rent seeking •Retrospective regulatory review •Risk assessment (administrative state) •Rulemaking •Separation of powers •Significant regulatory action •Skidmore deference •Statutory authority •Substantive law and procedural law •Sue and settle •Sunset provision •Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions •United States Code •United States Statutes at Large Bibliography "Administrative Law - The 20th Century Bequeaths an 'Illegitimate Exotic' in Full and Terrifying Flower" by Stephen P. Dresch (2000) "Confronting the Administrative Threat" by Philip Hamburger and Tony Mills (2017) "Constitutionalism after the New Deal" by Cass R. Sunstein (1987) Federalist No. 23 by Alexander Hamilton (1787) "From Administrative State to Constitutional Government" by Joseph Postell (2012) "Interring the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2002) "Rulemaking as Legislating" by Kathryn Watts (2015) "The Checks & Balances of the Regulatory State" by Paul R. Verkuil (2016) "The Myth of the Nondelegation Doctrine" by Keith E. Whittington and Jason Iuliano (2017) "The Progressive Origins of the Administrative State: Wilson, Goodnow, and Landis" by Ronald J. Pestritto (2007) "The Rise and Rise of the Administrative State" by Gary Lawson (1994) "The Study of Administration" by Woodrow Wilson (1887) "The Threat to Liberty" by Steven F. Hayward (2017) "Why the Modern Administrative State Is Inconsistent with the Rule of Law" by Richard A. Epstein (2008) Agencies Administrative Conference of the United States •United States Civil Service Commission •U.S. Government Accountability Office •U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs •U.S. Office of Management and Budget