Learn how the Wagner Act was a victory for organized labour but excluded semiskilled and unskilled labourers
In this historic speech, Sen. Robert Wagner outlined his vision for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Auckland Museum; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.Learn about the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and its aftereffects.
-
© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Overview of Texas's role in the American Civil War.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.It's no wonder that the man called the Little Corporal has captivated the public for 200 years.
-
© UK Parliament Education Service (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn how the United States elects the offices of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the president, and the vice president in the 21st century and how this system compares to that of other countries, such as the United Kingdom.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay took off from the Mariana Islands on August 6, 1945, bound for Hiroshima, Japan, where, by dropping an atomic bomb, it heralded a new and terrible concept of warfare. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
-
© Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn about the Hessians, German mercenary soldiers who fought as auxiliary troops on the British side in the American Revolution.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn more about Maryland and its geography, people, economy, and history.
Transcript
SENATOR WAGNER: The National Labor Relations Bill I introduced is not new in principle. It is based upon the long-cherished American belief that every worker should be a free man in fact as well as in name, should be free to belong to any kind of union that he likes. My bill guarantees this economic freedom in the clearest terms.
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Under the Wagner Act, as it became known, labor was at last guaranteed the right to organize. But though the Wagner Act was a labor victory, unionism itself still had not reached out to touch the unskilled or semiskilled laborer. The coal miners, for instance, as well as auto and steel workers, were still excluded.
[Music out]
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Under the Wagner Act, as it became known, labor was at last guaranteed the right to organize. But though the Wagner Act was a labor victory, unionism itself still had not reached out to touch the unskilled or semiskilled laborer. The coal miners, for instance, as well as auto and steel workers, were still excluded.
[Music out]