Important Factors Contributed to the Labor Movement’s Growing Militancy and Strength

Important Factors that Contributed to the Labor Movement’s Growing Militancy and Strength in 1933 and 1934
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Important Factors that Contributed to the Labor Movement’s Growing Militancy and Strength in 1933 and 1934
The Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash in October 1929, further paralyzed an already weakened labor movement, crippled the bargaining power of unions, and caused massive unemployment. The unemployment rate increased from 500,000 to over 4 million from October to December 1929. Wages decreased by 16% within two years (Rosenzwing, 2008, p. 392). Nevertheless, labor unions started to come back in 1933 despite employers’ efforts to undermine organizing efforts. There were two primary factors which contributed to the labor movement’s growing militancy and strength in 1933 and 1934. The first was the implementation of a New Deal law, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which established a system of business self-regulation to restructure the industrial economy and gave workers the right to form unions. The second factor was the role of the labor activists and radicals from 1929 to 1934, including their role in the 1934 general strikes.
The NIRA was one of the programs that was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR’s) New Deal – a series of programs intended to restore the nation’s economy and provide support to working people. At this time, companies were closing and laying off their employees. Many workers suffered since unemployment to them meant homelessness, hunger, and poverty. The president wanted to stabilize the American economy and reduce the suffering of innocent citizens. However, Roosevelt wanted the USA to overcome the Great Depression not through a revolution but by reforming the country’s existing social and economic arrangements. The main objective that confronted the New Deal was industrial recovery. The downward cycle of plummeting profits, employment rates, prices, and wages were worrying, and something had to be done to reverse the situation. The NIRA was established to break this downward cycle by establishing a system of “business self-regulation” based on industry codes that were facilitated and coordinated by a new government agency, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) (Rosenzwing, 2008, p. 425). The industry codes were negotiated by employers and unions (where they existed) in each industry. The codes set minimum wage rates, hours of work, and production levels in each industry.
Although it was not the primary intention of the program, the NIRA significantly enhanced the militancy, growth, strength, and expansion of the labor movement. Section 7a of the act gave employees the legal right to organize labor unions and bargain collectively. Many employees were ready to return to work and join labor unions they liked. Through the NIRA and Section 7a, they got the freedom to renegotiate their wages and the number of hours in a workweek (Rosenzwing, 2008, p. 427). The NRA did not oppose workers’ strikes or protests if they did it to fight for their rights. Congress...