Labor & Employment Law History
Labor and employment law has its modern roots in the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution saw many workers leaving farms to work in cities. In cities, they were often subjected to unsafe working conditions, long hours, and low pay. Often young children would be sent to work by their parents. While labor law is an important part of the law in many countries this article focuses on labor law in the United States.
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Purpose
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Labor and employment laws attempt to address problems that workers face, such as low wages, long hours, and unsafe working conditions. It also attempts to assist workers indirectly by protecting the right of workers to organize in groups such as unions.
Unions
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The influence of unions was a major factor in the development of labor law in the United States. Unions are organizations of workers that engage in collective bargaining with management, fight for higher wages for union members, and are often involved in politics. There are many unions in the public sector of the United States, such as teachers unions.
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Significance
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Labor law is an important issue that often plays a major role in political alignments. In the United States the Democratic Party is generally considered to be more sympathetic to labor interests. Unions and labor law in general spark disagreement among voters. Some believe that unions and government protection are necessary for workers to get their fair share. Others believe unions generally only seek their own benefit at the expense of the public and that people should be free to contract individually without government mandates on hours of work or wages paid.
Labor and Employment Law in the United States
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Much of the important labor law in the United States was enacted during the New Deal. At this time, there was a power struggle between then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Supreme Court, which at that time was pushing back against some of the reforms. FDR had threatened to increase the number of justices to create a more favorable composition of judges, but a change in the voting patterns of the judges averted this attempt.
Significant U.S. Labor Laws
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Some of the more important U.S. labor laws are the Wagner Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Taft-Hartley Act. The Wagner Act provided provisions protecting workers rights to unionize by limiting the way companies may respond to organization by workers. Some of the reforms provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act include the establishment of a federal minimum wage, federal overtime standards and rules regarding child labor. The Taft-Hartley Act set limits on what unions are allowed to do. The Wagner Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act were supported by unions, while the Taft-Hartley Act was not.
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References
- Photo Credit construction worker image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
