Labor+in+the+1930s

This is a video about John Lewis
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Excellent article - 1930 Government and Politics overview

Interesting history about Communist Party Labor
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This is an interesting link that talks about labor after WWII.

Labor after World War II Post-[|World War II] America brought new challenges to labor as production needs sharply decreased and overtime hours dried up. Instead of lowering wages following the war, companies reduced overtime hours, which had the effect of a 50 percent decrease in take-home pay. At the same time, Congress lifted the wartime [|price controls] on basic commodities, which brought about price increases of 25 percent, causing “real wages” to decline by 12 percent in one year. Renewed strikes for higher wages in the coal, automobile, steel, electric appliance, and railroad industries provoked a strong anti-union reaction from the public, which felt the unions had become arrogant and thankless for the favors received during the New Deal administrations. Upon election of a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, the [|Taft-Hartley Act] (1947) was passed over Democratic President [|Harry Truman]'s veto. That anti-labor backlash act outlawed the closed shop, made unions liable for damages caused by breaches of contract, required a 60-day “cooling off period” before striking, forbade unions from making political contributions or extracting excessive dues, and required elected union officials to take an oath stating they were not Communists. Outraged by the bill, Lewis and other labor leaders complained that the bill meant “slavery” and “fascism” to workers, which did not prove to be the case.

This is an interesting link that talks about the labor movement during the Depression. []

The labor movement during the Depression The emergence of the [|Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.)], came as a result of worker's impatience with Sam Gompers' cautious policies. Hundreds of thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers signed up with the only union they felt had their interests in mind. By midsummer 1937, membership grew to an estimated 4,000,000 in the CIO Under the dynamic leadership of [|John L. Lewis] of the United Mine Workers (UMW), the CIO unionized industries that had previously been opposed to it, such as the steel, automobile, textile, and public utilities. Black workers also were encouraged to organize and participate in the membership of the CIO. Lewis ordered a series of strikes directed at securing the closed shop, establishing the CIO's exclusive right to represent workers in collective bargaining, and to defend his newly favored sit-down strike tactic. In a sit-down strike, workers took possession of a premise and then refused to leave until demands were met. In March 1937, General Motors and Republican Steel contested the new sit-down's legality, calling for the [|Michigan] courts to rescue their properties by ordering [|injunctions] against sit-down protesters. Those actions caused a further rise in tension between the workers and factory owners, until Governor Frank Murphy's intervention successfully prevented widespread violence in the automobile industries. Congress passed the [|Fair Labor Standards Act] (1938), with the objective of the “elimination of labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living necessary for health, efficiency, and well being of workers.” Touted by President Roosevelt as “the most far-reaching, far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted,” the act eventually provided for the maximum work week of 40 hours and minimum wage of 40 cents an hour by 1945. Nearly 700,000 workers, including organized blacks, were affected by the wage increase. Some 13 million more workers were ultimately affected by the hours provision, although the act did not affect blacks working in the agricultural and domestic fields.

This link introduces a labor history timeline from 1934-1945.
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Democratizing America
====|| **1934** || Upsurge in strikes, including national textile strike, which fails || || **1935** || National Labor Relations Act and Social Security Act passed Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed within AFL || || **1936** || AFL and CIO create labor's Non-Partisan League and help President Roosevelt win re-election to a second term || || **1937** || Auto Workers win sit-down strike against General Motors in Flint, Mich. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters wins contract with Pullman Co. || || **1938** || Fair Labor Standards Act establishes first minimum wage and 40-hour week Congress of industrial Organizations forms as an independent federation || || **1940** || John L. Lewis resigns and Philip Murray becomes CIO president || || **1941** || A. Philip Randolph threatens march on Washington to pretest racial discimination in defense jobs || || **1941** || U.S. troops enter combat in World Wal II  National War Labor Board created with union members || || **1943** || CIO forms first political action committee to get out the union vote for President Roosevelt ||====

The National Labor Relations Act, signed by President Roosevelt in 1935, protected the right of American workers to organize and bargain collectively.

The Great Depression and New Deal, 1929-1940s.
This is an interesting link about the Great Depression and the New Deal.

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Organizing the unemployed in 1930

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This is a very interesting link to some employment and union membership statistics provided by

U.S. Union Membership, 1930-97
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 * Source:** Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor

Another interesting section from a google book regarding the labor protests and government actions. This book is remembering the dust bowl refugee camps.

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Link to youtube video about AFL vs. CIO split in 1935
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**THE FLINT SIT-DOWN STRIKE**
http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/strike.php

**The Battle of the Overpass of 1937**
http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/the-battle-of-the-overpass/

John Lewis of CIO - A photo Gallery Link
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 * "The Nation"**

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 * "Farm Labor in 1930s"

media type="youtube" key="dku-MFnIxaU" height="344" width="425" This is a video about Strikebreaking during 1930s!!! media type="youtube" key="VvXX3-dMCEY" height="344" width="425"

Pictures showing the labor disputes occuring in the 1930s, between strikers and police. []