National Labor Relations Act at 80: Continuing the Fight to Protect Workers' Rights
In 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression and at a time of instability and uncertainty for families across the country, our nation recognized the need to protect the rights of workers to improve their pay and working conditions through collective bargaining. That’s why Congress passed a law called the National Labor Relations Act.
Under the NLRA, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law 80 years ago last week, a worker’s fundamental right to organize and collectively bargain became the law of the land. And to enforce that law, Congress created an agency dedicated to resolving disputes and preventing unfair labor practices. That’s why we have the National Labor Relations Board.
Through the middle of the past century, as more workers were able to join a union and as the NLRB protected that right, wages increased and kept pace with worker productivity, more families had the security of health care coverage and benefits, and we enjoyed broad-based economic growth.
Today, we need to do more to grow our economy from the middle out, not from the top down. Unfortunately, the past several decades have been dominated by trickle-down economic policies, with big corporations benefitting most and posting massive profits while workers — who are more productive than ever — pay the price with stagnant wages and longer hours. That leaves workers with less and less economic security.
More recently, Republicans in Congress have taken every opportunity they can to lob attacks on the NLRB — and by extension, attack workers who simply want a voice at the table in their workplace. Look no further than the partisan budget Senate Republicans approved in the Appropriations Committee that slashed more than $27 million from the NLRB’s current funding level. House Republicans want to do even more damage. The partisan House budget would cut NLRB funding by $74 million from the current level.
Under the Senate Republican’s damaging proposal, the NLRB would have to cut its staff by more than a third. That would dramatically reduce the number of labor violations that the NLRB is able to investigate and resolve around the country. That will mean fewer workers will have the chance to improve their wages and working conditions. It’s bad for businesses too. Employers also benefit when union election processes run smoothly and efficiently. In addition, responsible businesses face unfair competition when some employers are free to violate their workers’ rights with impunity.
To further hinder workers’ rights to have a seat at the bargaining table, Republicans included several extraneous provisions — known as riders — in their bill to hamstring the NLRB’s work. They want to prohibit employees from voting electronically in union elections. That would prevent the agency from streamlining the election process. And they want to prevent the NLRB from carrying out its responsibility to examine and adapt to the changing nature of the labor market so it can adequately protect workers.
