 NIRA (1933) and Wagner Act (1935) legalized labor unions  Union membership grew from 3 million in early 30s to 10 million (25% of workforce) by 1941

 Formation of the CIO › Union rivalries created tension › American Federation of Labor  white, skilled workers  Organized by crafts › Some wanted AFL extended to all workers › Committee/Congress of Industrial Organizations breaks away from AFL  Unskilled workers in auto/steel/textile industries

 Strikes › Auto  GM plant in Flint, MI  Sit-down strike  GM asked for troops, denied  Eventually recognized as UAW  Ford plant  Organizers beaten and driven away › Steel  Small steel companies resisted  Republic Steel – four protesters killed by police

 Fair Labor Standards Act › 1938 › Established:  Minimum wage (40 cents/hour = $6.03/hour)  40 hour workweek (time and a half overtime)  Child labor restrictions for under 16 › US v. Darby Lumber Co.  Supreme Court reversed 1916 ruling declaring child labor laws unconstitutional

Current

 1.5 million strikers in 1934 › West Coast longshoremen  Two killed by police › Teamsters in Minneapolis  2 killed by police › 300k+ in the South  7 killed in South Carolina  6 other deaths throughout the South

 Black sharecroppers › AAA hurt tenant and sharecropping farmers › 2.8 million of 6.8 million total  48 sitdown strikes in 1936  477 in 1937  NLRB and Union leadership provide a measure of control

 Some help (unemployment, banks, business earnings)  Recession › Programs cut/moderated › Trying to balance budget  New Deal weakened with Dem. majority

 Wealth still in the hands of a few  System of inequality still intact  Little to no feminist movement › Added pressure › More seeking work › Lower pay for same jobs

 African-Americans ignored › Mostly tenant farmers, laborers, migrants, domestic workers  No unemployment insurance, minimum wages, social security, or farm subsidies › Roosevelt didn’t push an anti-lynching law › Segregation and discrimination in military and jobs › African-Americans invisible › Only radicals tried to break racial barriers  Socialists, Communists, CIO

 Native Americans › Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934  Repealed Dawes Act  Returned land control to tribes  Mexican Americans › Lost many southern and western farm jobs to whites moving west › Thousands returned to Mexico

 Early – continuation of Populist, Progressive movements  Later – Halfway revolution › Helped some, ignored others › Moderate reforms  Later – Missed opportunity › Only preserved capitalist system of inequality  Modern – Piecemeal solution › Did what was necessary, no radical or conservative agenda in mind