Strikes: Wagner Act: A) B) Collective Bargaining: C) National Labor Relations Board: CIO: Social Security Act: 1) 2) 3) Sit Down Strikes: Fair Labor Standards Act: 1) 2) 3)

Strikes From the Mid-1933 through 1934, about 2.5 Million men and women went out on strike. Strikes erupted all over the country in workplaces from factories to cotton fields, truck depots to laundries, construction sites to office buildings, even among home workers. One labor journalist wrote “the country is full of spontaneous strikes, wherever one goes, one sees picket lines.”

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) In November 1935, AFL leaders founded the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which represented unions in industry-wide basis rather than the traditional craft organizational, such as steel or automobile unions. More members = more power CIO advanced working-class solidarity in important ways. CIO union welcomed men and women of every color, creed, and nationality.

Wagner Act In 1935, Congress passed the Wagner Act sponsored by Senator Robert Wagner. The Wagner Act: recognized the rights of employees to A)Join Labor Unions B) Collective Bargaining: employers had to negotiate with unions about hours, wages, and working conditions C) National Labor Relations Board: oversaw worker complaints Union membership increased from 3 to 9 million

Sit Down Strike In December 1926, members of the CIO’s newly formed United Automobile Workers Union (UAW) staged a sit- down strike. All the machines stopped and workers refused to leave the factory until owners recognized their union. The strike lasted 44 days until General Motors, then the largest company in the world, agreed to recognize the UAW. This union method was adopted by others.

Social Security Act In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act: 1)Pensions for older people, which are payments from employers and employees. 2) Unemployment insurance. People received payments until they could find employment. 3) Money to support dependant children and people with disabilities President Roosevelt sought to help the elderly. In the 1930’s, the United States was the only major industrial nation that did not have a system for retired citizens.

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 Provided workers with additional rights: 1) A minimum wage 2) Maximum work hours (44 hours a week) 3) Outlawed child labor under the age of 16 from working in specific industries.

Literature Several classics emerged: –The Good Earth –Their Eyes Were Watching God –The Grapes of Wrath –Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

Radio and Movies Radio –Comedy shows –Soap operas –Symphonic music Movies –$.25 for a double feature –Drive-ins introduced in 1933 –Optimistic Films Mr Smith Goes to Washington Monkey Business The Wizard of Oz Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The Arts WPA funds supported unemployed artists, musicians, historians, theater people and writers Historians surveyed local gov’t records, state guidebooks, collected life stories of former slaves Federal Music Project – community symphonies and free music lessons Federal Art Project – painted 2,000 murals in public buildings, 100,000 other paintings, 17,000 sculptures