Key Developments in American Labor Legislation
January 2005
1867
Trade union efforts result in Illinois and Missouri becoming the first governments in the world to enact laws declaring eight hours a legal day's work when there is no contract that sets a different workday.
1884
The U.S. government establishes the world’s first Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. and several state bureaus push for the extension of labor protections, and the U.S. bureau publishes a study of comprehensive social insurance.
1898
The Erdman Act provides for the first federal mediation of labor disputes; this law applied to the railroad industry, but later, labor mediation services expanded to other industries.
1910
Ten states enact workers’ compensation laws that are upheld by courts. Eventually all the states enact such laws. Workers’ comp remains a state-run program today.
1913
A separate United States Department of Labor is created; it includes the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Naturalization, the Children's Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Conciliation Service.
1914
The Clayton Anti-Trust Act is described as the “Magna Carta” of Labor because it declares that “... the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce. Nothing contained in the anti-trust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and operation of labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations ...”
1926
The Railway Labor Act recognizes collective bargaining for the railroad brotherhoods (such as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers).
1931
The Davis-Bacon Act required that building contractors working on federal buildings pay the “prevailing rate of wages” (that is, the local union rate) to employees
1932
The Norris-LaGuardia Act limits courts’ power to issue injunctions in labor disputes, but offers no protection for boycotts or sympathy strikes.
1933
Section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act requires that each industry’s “code of fair competition” guarantee that “employees have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing” and that “employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other working conditions approved or presented by the President.” By 1935, employers in the steel, auto, and other industries have created “company unions” controlled by employers.
1935
The National Labor Relations Act guarantees workers the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. This act established the National Labor Relations Board as an agency that is separate from the Department of Labor. The NLRB oversees union elections, and enforces fair elections. Company unions wither, industrial unions like the United Auto Workers thrive. Between 1936 and 1939, another 5 million workers joined unions.
The Social Security Act creates several new programs, including Old Age Insurance; unemployment compensation run by the states; and grants-in-aid to the states for aid for the aged, blind, and dependent children. Specific provisions new programs have been added over the years, including Medicare (1965).
1936
The Public Contracts (Walsh-Healy Act) establishes labor standards on federal government contracts, including minimum wages, overtime compensation for hours in excess of 8 a day or 40 a week, restrictions on child and convict labor, and health and safety requirements.
1938
The Fair Labor Standards Act provided a 25 cent minimum wage and time and a half for hours over 40 hours a week. Gradually, the number of workers covered was increased, and the minimum wage was raised.
1947
The Labor-Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act prohibits some strikes, makes it possible to require a “cooling off” period for a strike, and (in section 14b) permits states to outlaw the union shop. 22 states now have such “right to work” laws, including all of the former Confederate states. President Bush used the “cooling off” provision in a west coast longshoremen’s strike in 2002.
1958
The Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act requires employers with health insurance, pension, and supplementary unemployment compensation plans to file plan descriptions and annual financial reports with the Secretary of Labor.
1959
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure (Landrum Griffin) Act provides for oversight of internal union administration and fund management. The bill also restricts secondary boycotts, and organizational and recognition picketing (that is, picketing of firms where another union is already recognized).
1963
The Equal Pay Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in compensation for substantially similar work under similar conditions;
1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, or religion. It creates the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce the law.
1967
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of age against individuals who are 40 years old or older.
1970
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) provides the first comprehensive federal standards for workplace Safety and Health. It establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
1970
Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, Federal Wage Garnishment Law, limits the amount of an employee's earnings that may be garnished and protects an employee from being fired if pay is garnished for only one debt.
Taft Hartley Act amendments give the NLRB jurisdiction over the Postal Service
1974
The Employee Retirement Income
Security Act sets minimum standards for most
voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide
protection for individuals in these plans.
Taft Hartley Act amendments give the NLRB jurisdiction over the health-care industry
1978
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employee benefit programs to treat pregnancy in the same way as illnesses, and prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
1988
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) requires employers to notify workers 60 days before a mass layoff.
1990
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against workers with disabilities.
1991
Civil Rights Act protections against employment discrimination are strengthened.
1993
The Family and Maternal Leave Act requires some employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave and continued health benefits for an employee for a serious personal health condition, to care for an immediate family member, and to care for a newborn.
1996
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides portability of health insurance and increased privacy protection for individual medical information
Federal minimum wage raised to $5.15 per hour, and a “subminimum” wage for youth is set at $4.25 and hour.