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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