Question

What was the significance of the Wagner Act and the rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations for the US economy and how did it impact the Democratic party?

Answer 1

The most notable piece of labour law passed in the United States in the 20th century was the Wagner Act, formally the National Labor Rights Act (1935). Its primary aim was to secure the fundamental right of most workers to unite or form trade unions and to contract jointly with their employers (with the exception, in particular, of agricultural and domestic workers). The act also prevented workers from refusing to contract with any other union that the NLRB had approved as the preference of a majority of employees. The Wagner Act, vigorously criticised by Republicans and big business, was contested in court as a violation of employers and workers' "right of contract" and as an illegal interference by the federal government into markets that were not directly interested in interstate trade that Congress was authorised to control under the trade clause.