Jon R. Huibregtse
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034652
- eISBN:
- 9780813038544
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034652.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the ...
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American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the railroad unions of the time, arguing that not only were they active, but that they made a big difference in American Labor practices by helping to set legal precedents. The book explains how efforts by the Plumb Plan League and the Railroad Labor Executive Association created the Railroad Labor Act, its amendments, and the Railroad Retirement Act. These laws became models for the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act. Unfortunately, the significant contributions of the railroad laws are, more often than not, overlooked when the NLRA or Social Security are discussed. Offering a new perspective on labor unions in the 1920s, the book describes how the railroad unions created a model for union activism that workers' organizations followed for the next two decades.Less
American historians tend to believe that labor activism was moribund in the years between the First World War and the New Deal. The book challenges this perspective in this examination of the railroad unions of the time, arguing that not only were they active, but that they made a big difference in American Labor practices by helping to set legal precedents. The book explains how efforts by the Plumb Plan League and the Railroad Labor Executive Association created the Railroad Labor Act, its amendments, and the Railroad Retirement Act. These laws became models for the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act. Unfortunately, the significant contributions of the railroad laws are, more often than not, overlooked when the NLRA or Social Security are discussed. Offering a new perspective on labor unions in the 1920s, the book describes how the railroad unions created a model for union activism that workers' organizations followed for the next two decades.
James A. Gross
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501714252
- eISBN:
- 9781501714276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501714252.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter sets the stage for understanding the Wagner Act as a human rights law, the influence of value clashes in interpreting that law, and the counter-revolution against this rights law.
This chapter sets the stage for understanding the Wagner Act as a human rights law, the influence of value clashes in interpreting that law, and the counter-revolution against this rights law.
