NLRA Celebrates 75 years

Not too long ago, kids worked in factories, and didn't go to school. Irish and Italian immigrants were beaten by American nationals while company thugs murdered them when they tried to organize. The nation was in turmoil, with a depression, and the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The auto industry with the UAW and truck drivers with the Teamsters were just forming. Thousands were realizing the benefits of collective bargaining. Before the AFL and the CIO merged, our country's union leaders lobbied then President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pass the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935. We were called Communist and Un-American, but our President knew something had to be done. FDR knew, like Abe Lincoln did, that organizing was a God given American right. The NLRA established rules for union organizing, established the National Labor Relations Board, and protected workers who were organizing from the dark and harsh tactics of the evil companies that exploited them. Much has changed over the years, and the NLRA still needs improvement, but at the time it was a historic law, and it changed this country for the better. Today, we still share similar challenges that we experienced in the 1930's, from worker organizing violations by large immoral companies like Wal-Mart and violence towards unorganized immigrants right here in our own backyard. We learned from history, and over time we hope that as a unified Labor Movement, we will not repeat the same mistakes. The Employee Free Choice Act is next, and when this happens, we all must pick a side. For 75 years we have had the NLRA protect our members. It is our hope that better days are yet to come, and with the knowledge and wisdom knowing what it took in 1935 to pass the NLRA, we owe it to those workers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to continue the fight and make the NLRA even stronger.

Learn more about the 75th Anniversary of the NLRA
Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act