The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), sometimes called the Wagner Act after its chief sponsor, Sen. Robert F. Wagner (D-N.Y.), is the principal federal law governing the operation and organizing of labor unions in the private sector and their relations with management representatives. Enacted in 1935 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal economic central planning programs, the law replaced the labor-management relations provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act, which had been found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.¹⁷

Legislative History

In 1914, syndicate labor unionism—using anti-competitive practices to organize workers for mutual benefit—was legalized by the Clayton Act, which exempted labor unions from anti-trust laws. In 1926, to resolve strikes in the railroad industry, Congress enacted its first nationwide labor relations law, the Railway Labor Act, to govern collective bargaining in the railroad industry. After the financial crisis of 1929 initiated the Great Depression, public demands for a national labor union law surged.²⁶

Significant Amendments

Labor Management Relations Act of 1947

Also see Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act) (Legislation)

In 1947, Congressional Republicans enacted a series of amendments to the National Labor Relations Act by overriding President Harry Truman’s veto. Known formally as the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 and commonly as Taft-Hartley (after its sponsors, U.S. Rep. Fred Hartley (R-N.J.) and U.S. Sen. Robert Taft (R-Ohio)), the law sought to restore balance between labor unions, employers, and individual employees while combating union abuses that had expanded after the passage of the Wagner Act. 0){ let parent=divs[divs.length-1].parentNode; let footer=divs[divs.length-1]; delete divs[divs.length-1]; for (let i=2; i