The New Deal:  VIII
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Labor

Section 7 (a) of the NIRA gave workers employed in industries abiding by NRA codes the right to bargain collectively.  Encouraged by the government’s protection, organized labor increased its activity among workers.  Thousands of workers joined unions—most of them skilled workers covered by AFL craft unions—throughout 1934 and 1935.

But thousands of unskilled workers remained outside the guidelines of AFL, leaving the majority of workers unorganized. A group of labor leaders formed a committee within the AFL to promote unionizing industrial workers. Led by UMWA president John L. Lewis, the Committee broke with the AFL in 1935 and formed a separate group renamed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

The Schechter Decision

In May of 1935, the United States Supreme Court declared the NRA unconstitutional in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States.  In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the fair practice codes of the NRA violated existing anti-trust laws by limiting competition.  With that, the Court killed half of FDR's New Deal recovery program.  Other cases challenging the AAA were also working their way towards the Supreme Court.  If the Court delclared the AAA unconstitutional, that would kill the remainder of the New Deal's recovery plan.   There was nothing Roosevelt could do to change the Court.  Supreme Court justices received their appointments for life.   The only way to replace a justice was to impeach him for misconduct (that had never happened) or wait for one to retire or die.

Organized Labor

Meanwhile, another consquence of the Schechter decision was to remove the recently-granted federal protections granted to labor unions under the NRA codes.  Section 7 (a) of the NIRA allowed workers in NRA industries to join unions.  This was the first time the federal government had ever recognized the rights of labor unions to exist.  Consequently, labor unions began organizing thousands of new unions, gaining millions of new members.  Even with some resistance from business, this represented a major change in the American workplace.  

The recognition of unions had tremendous political consequences for both Roosevelt and the Democratic Party.  Union members naturally expressed their gratitude for federal protection by supporting FDR and the New Deal.  Over time, unions would form a major bloc of support for Roosevelt within the Party.  For the time being, however, they were concerned that in the wake of Schechter, the hostile business community would turn against the unions and their members.  They pleaded with Roosevelt and Congress to grant them new protections right away.  Senator Robert Wagner of New York authored a bill that would continue federal protections for labor unions, as well as extending other protections against "unfair" business practices.  Roosevelt did not actively champion the bill, but once it passed Congress, he signed the National Labor Relations Act into law.  

Industrial Unionism and the CIO

The new kind of unions promoted by CIO were industrial unions, and they operated quite differently from the craft unions of the AFL. Instead of organizing workers according to  skill, CIO organized all workers within a given factory.  This gave even unskilled workers bargaining strength by relying on sheer force of numbers in the event of a strike.

The Sit Down Strike

Industrial unionism required new tactics.  Normal strikes tactics did not work.  Unskilled workers were easy to replace in a strike, so the CIO came up with a new tactic for conducting strikes:  the “sit-down.”  Workers “sat-down” on the job-in effect, occupying the factory so that no work could be done, nor could they be replaced unless physically removed. 

Steel and Auto

Two main targets for CIO organization were steel and auto workers.  CIO formed the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), headed by UMW vice-president Philip Murray, to promote unions among steel workers.  (Most SWOC members and officers belonged to John L. Lewis’ UMW union.) Their biggest target was the biggest steel manufacturer, U. S. Steel.  Fearing a strike, U. S. Steel agreed to recognize the CIO steelworkers’ union in March of 1937.  Other businessmen were stunned by “Big Steel’s” “cave-in,” but it demonstrated how some companies felt it was cheaper to work with organized labor—even CIO—than against it. Smaller steel manufacturers matched the wage and hour provisions agreed by U. S. Steel but refused to sign contracts with CIO.  “Little Steel”—Republic Steel Corp., Bethlehem Steel Corp., Inland Steel, etc.—believed unionization would infringe upon their management prerogative.  Republic Steel, under Tom M. Girdler, determined to fight the CIO.  Republic formed its own “company” union, which it dominated completely, to divert workers away from true collective bargaining.  Republic also used spies, fired union men, and hired strikebreakers—”toughs” armed with guns, tear gas, and clubs—to battle any strikers.  They were ready for war.

Above: CIO leaders (l-r)  Thomas Kennedy, John L. Lewis, Philip Murray.

Massacre at Republic Steel In May 1937, SWOC prepared to strike three “Little Steel” companies, including Republic.  On May 26, 85,000 steel workers struck, including 2,2200 workers at Republic’s South Chicago plant.  Two of the companies shut down, planning to outwait the strikes, but Republic hired “scabs” to keep its plant going.  Plant management brought in Chicago Police, who attacked strike “pickets” outside the gates of the plant.  On May 30,200 policemen attacked a crowd of 1500 strikers and supporters.  The police threw tear gas bombs; the strikers threw bottles and rocks.  Then, a policeman pulled a gun and fired shots at the strikers.  The rest of the police followed, and fired 200 shots at point blank range.  In 15 seconds, the police killed four and mortally wounded six, wounding 30 others—all shot in the back or the side as they fled.  But that wasn’t the end.  The police continued to attack the crowd with billy clubs, beating men and women indiscriminately. Reactions to the Massacre were mixed.  Chicago papers called the strikers “communists,” but a committee headed by Sen. Robert La Follettte investigated the event, and concluded that the police were to blame.  The Committee said the police had no cause to halt the marchers, and condemned the use of excessive force use by police in breaking up the crowd. The Massacre was only one part of the much larger story of the Little Steel Strike, but it exemplified the tactics used against the CIO.  Altogether, 16 people nationwide lost their lives in the Little Steel strike.  All of these incidents occurred at Republic Steel plants and involved strikers and law enforcement agencies.  But the deaths were not entirely in vain.  After complaints to the NLRB and years of anti-union activity by Republic, “Little Steel” signed contracts with the union in 1942—but only under the compulsion of the War Labor Board.

Many in Congress and the Roosevelt administration believed that one source of union unrest lay in the unequal treatment of workers with respect to wages and working conditions.  So long as one industry could exploit workers, they felt, then unrest and violence would continue.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

In 1938, Congress created the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which established minimum wages and maximum hour for certain categories of workers engaged in industries involved in interstate commerce.  This was the first step in establishing uniform wages and working conditions for all workers.

Conclusions

The New Deal represented a significant advance for organized labor.  With the NIRA and NLRA, union members now enjoyed federal protection for their rights to organize, bargain collectively, and choose their union representative. These same laws also protected them from unfair labor practices, guaranteed minimum wage and maximum hours for certain workers, while other laws provided for workmen’s compensation in case of injury or unemployment benefits if laid off.

However, the violence accompanying the battles of industrial workers to unionize, as well as the involvement of known Communists—some of them foreign-born--as part of union groups, reinforced conceptions among many that the new unions represented dangerously radical and even “un-American” ideas.

Now that we have looked at the programs and evolution of the New Deal, it is time to turn to the political side of this process.

[New D eal: VII] [New Deal: IX]