The Democrats Have Much to Answer For

By DAVID MACARAY

In 1935, as part of the National Labor Relations Act (popularly known as the Wagner Act), the federal government gave labor unions the “right to organize,” which meant, among other things, that it was now a federal crime for companies to attempt to dissuade employees from joining a union by issuing threats of reprisal or discharging union activists.

In principle, if management did something blatantly illegal, such as firing the employees who were promoting (or, in management’s view, “instigating”) the union membership drive, the company could be charged with a violation of federal labor law.  If found guilty, the company would be fined, the employees would be reinstated, and the company would be forced to pay back wages to the reinstated employees (minus any wages they earned at other jobs during the interim).  That’s how it was intended to work.

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