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Labor's Edge Articles by Hilda Solis
7/7/10
Realizing the Promise of the National Labor Relations Act
by U.S. Deptartment of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis
Monday marked the 75th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act - also known as the Wagner Act - one of the lesser known, but key components of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In addition to Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, a Federal minimum wage and laws regulating child labor - all controversial concepts at the time that we now take for granted as basic elements of fairness - the New Deal included the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) which protected workers' rights to join or form unions and engage in collective bargaining.