American Labor and the
Great Depression
(Genre: Online Article)
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
1
Welcome to the next section of
our online series on the history of
workers’ rights in the United States.
Here, we take a look at a defining
event, the Great Depression. We’ll
examine the events of the Great
Depression, along with the
governmental and judicial responses
to those events, and see how those
responses contributed to the rules
and regulations overseeing workers’
rights in the United States.
History and Background
2
What was the world like when the
Great Depression took place? What
happened during the corresponding
era? The Great Depression struck at
the end of the 1920s, a decade of
cultural dynamism and economic
growth. It followed American
achievements at home and abroad—
the victory of the Allies (including
the United States, Great Britain,
France, and Russia) in World War I
(1918), and the guarantee of
women’s right to vote, assured by
the passage of the Nineteenth
Amendment (1920). These events
helped ensure that the beginning of
the decade known as the “Roaring
Twenties” would be characterized by
general fiscal strength and a sense of
social prosperity. Unfortunately, by
the end of the decade, with the
positive after-effects of World War I
receding, economies around the
world became increasingly shaky.
3
Most people agree that the Great
Depression began on Tuesday,
October 29, 1929, known as “Black
Tuesday,” a day that marked a
calamitous drop in the stock market
and led to the worst economic
disaster Americans had experienced.
People went from rich to bankrupt in
a single day. And that was just the
beginning. As 1930 rolled around, the
American economy grew worse and
worse. Staggering numbers of
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American workers lost their jobs. By
1932, the number of jobless peaked
at almost 25 percent of the
workforce. As a result, other
seemingly guaranteed elements of
American life began to quickly slip
away. People could no longer take
gainful employment, a place to live,
or food on the table for granted.
4
Although the Great Depression’s
negative ramifications could be
seen and felt in all aspects of life, its
effects on American labor were
especially profound—ultimately, in
a positive way. To demonstrate why,
this article will examine how this
disastrous event gave rise to reforms
in the American workplace. Click
Great Depression Facts and Figures
to get to more information about the
Great Depression on this site.
unorganized worker is commonly
helpless to exercise actual liberty of
contract and to protect his freedom
of labor” (Section 2, NorrisLaGuardia Act). A year later, shortly
after his inauguration in 1933,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
passed the Emergency Banking
Relief Act. By doing so the
government was trying to support
the banking systems, which were
suffering tremendously in the
severe economy.
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First Years of the Great
Depression: 1929–1933
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2
Unit 3
The first year of the Great
Depression was also the first year
of Herbert Hoover’s short-lived
presidency. During Hoover’s single
term in the White House, American
workers benefited from the passage
of a few important acts specifically
related to unionization of laborers
and workers’ rights. Workers needed
these laws so they could group
together and protect their rights as
workers. For example, in 1932,
Hoover passed the Norris-LaGuardia
Act, which stated, “the individual
Overall, however, Hoover was not
able to fix the economic and other
problems stemming from the Great
Depression. At the next presidential
election, Franklin D. Roosevelt took
over, taking office in 1933. Roosevelt
would be president through the
remainder of the Great Depression
and beyond. Click The American
Presidents to get to more information
about Hoover and Roosevelt and the
challenges of their terms on this
Web site.
Roosevelt and the New Deal:
1933–1935
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Roosevelt remains America’s
longest-serving president. He rose to
power in large part because of his
promises to help the United States
overcome the Great Depression.
These promises were encased in a
set of policies generally referred to
as the New Deal. With the New Deal,
Roosevelt espoused his faith that the
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
American Labor and the Great Depression continued
American Labor and the Great Depression continued
United States could not only see its
way through the Great Depression,
but emerge a stronger country.
Roosevelt promised that the New Deal
policies and actions would pull the
economy together and help jobless
Americans rejoin the workforce.
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
8
Two landmark pieces of legislation
from the New Deal era— the National
Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and
the Wagner Act of 1935—shared
common ground, both of them serving
to further regulate the processes of
collective bargaining. Collective
bargaining is a significant means
by which unionized employees
negotiate with employers. Both
acts are worth examining on an
individual basis.
9
The purposes of the National
Industrial Recovery Act were primarily
“[t]o encourage national industrial
recovery, to foster fair competition,
and to provide for the construction
of certain useful public works”
(National Industrial Recovery Act).
10
The Wagner Act is also referred to
as the National Labor Relations Act.
It too had several purposes,
including: “To diminish the causes of
labor disputes burdening or
obstructing interstate and foreign
commerce, [and] to create a National
Labor Relations Board” (National
Labor Relations Act). This act
contributed greatly to the labor
union movement. Significantly, it
made legally possible the existence of
a workplace with only unionized
employees. Moreover, through the
foundation of the National Labor
Relations Board, or the NLRB, it
enabled a regulating body to keep
the work of labor unions, employees,
and employers alike, lawful, and fair.
Life-Changing Laws: 1935–1938
11
During his tenure, President
Roosevelt approached economic
improvement from several angles.
Primarily, he focused on stabilizing
American finance. In addition, he
increased the number of available
jobs. Ultimately, he went so far as to
found government programs, like the
Works Progress Administration, or
WPA, to oversee these processes.
12
Roosevelt continued to enact and
develop many important, wideranging pieces of legislation,
including two acts related in
particular to workers’ rights. The
changes of these acts would
reverberate throughout American
society. They are still felt today.
13
One of Roosevelt’s most important
changes to American labor legislation
came through the Social Security Act,
or SSA. The government developed
this act in 1935 in order to “provide
for the general welfare by
establishing a system of Federal
old-age benefits [… and]
unemployment compensation laws”
(Social Security Act). It had other
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considerations, too. With this
legislation, the government became
responsible for providing money to
individuals who had spent time in
the workforce, but no longer could
work. Their inability to work was
usually because of age, disability,
or joblessness.
14
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Unit 3
In other words, the government
provided certain funds to workers
who had retired (similar to the
pension system). It also regulated
insurance funding for workers.
Specifically, workers who either had
become injured on the job or who
had lost their job were insured. All
these provisions, however, relied upon
the idea of Americans contributing
portions of their salaries to the
government through taxes. This tax
money would then be returned to
them through Social Security. This
act, slightly revised, still applies to
Americans today.
15
The Social Security Act
accomplished a great deal in terms
of comfort and security for those no
longer in the workforce. Yet it did
not address conditions within the
workplace. Instead, Roosevelt’s
government generated another act
in 1938 to meet these needs for the
first time.
16
The Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 set up requirements about how
people could reasonably be expected
to work in terms of hours, payment,
and age-appropriateness. The act
regulated the number of hours
people could legally be required to
work in a week. The government
set this limit at forty hours, and
established a policy of compensation
for those working overtime. The Fair
Labor Standards Act also established
a national minimum wage, or salary.
Finally, this act made the important
distinction between adult and child
workers, explaining that children
could not be laborers except according
to strict, additional regulation.
17
By the end of 1938, Roosevelt’s
administration had successfully
implemented its New Deal policies.
These policies enforced legal,
financial, and job-creation changes.
They bettered the lives of millions of
American citizens.
End of the Great Depression
18
Historians do not agree on a
definitive end point of the Great
Depression. Some consider the era
over in 1939, others sometime later
in the following decade. Certainly,
improving the economy took much
longer than witnessing its collapse.
Yet the economic horrors of the Great
Depression would soon be eclipsed
by horrors of a different kind.
19
In the years leading up to 1938,
slowly but surely, the difficulties
caused by the Great Depression were
ameliorated. Americans integrated
themselves back into the workforce.
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
American Labor and the Great Depression continued
American Labor and the Great Depression continued
Soon, it became time to reengage
with the rest of the world.
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
20
Between 1929 and 1939, Roosevelt
led the United States back to financial
security. Simultaneously, the
dangerous dictator Adolf Hitler was
coming to power in Germany. His
armies were encroaching on other
European countries. In 1939, World
War II began. Just as with other wars,
World War II created jobs in the
countries involved in the battle, such
as Great Britain. It also created jobs
for other countries supporting the
war effort, such as the United States.
Throughout World War II, the
American economy strengthened,
most dramatically after Roosevelt
directed American soldiers to
officially join the fight in 1941.
21
Before the end of World War II,
strong labor laws were in place in
the United States. Many of those
working in America could expect to
benefit from unionization, and even
more workers could expect to benefit
from federal legislation designed to
protect them in the workplace and
after they retired from that
workplace.
22
A teenager entering the American
workforce in 1945 would encounter a
far different environment from that
of a worker twenty years earlier. This
new worker could expect to work
forty hours a week, make at least a
minimum wage, receive overtime
payments and insurance benefits,
and collect Social Security after
retirement. All of these reforms
enabled the achievement of the
American Dream.
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