Collective bargaining II

Before the Wagner Act the law did not forbid collective bargaining but the employer was under no legal compulsion to accept it. Without legal or administrative means with which to secure recognition and bargaining rights, unions had to strike to force the employer to accede to bargaining. Because the issue of union recognition and collective bargaining was often seen by both labor and management as a matter of principle and not subject to compromise there occurred a number of bitter and drawn out ‘recognition’ strikes throughout the late 1800s and the beginning decades of the twentieth century that resulted in considerable violence and a general radicalization of emotions on the issue of unionism.

Three key provisions of the Wagner Act fundamentally altered the practice of collective bargaining and the balance of power between workers and employers. The first was the prohibition of various antiunion unfair labor practices by employers, the second was the establishment of the union representation election, and the third was the establishment of the quasi judicial National Labor Relations Board to administer and enforce the law. The act covered all workers except those with supervisory or managerial roles or persons employed in the government (local, state and federal), agriculture, domestic service and industries (railroads and airlines) that were covered under the Railway Labor Act.