AFL

Anti-Communist Loyalty Oaths and Taft-Hartley Act Weaponized to Crush Labor Movement

| Importance: 8/10

After World War II, as worker militancy swept the country, the right-wing struck back with the Taft-Hartley Act, passed by a Republican Congress over President Truman’s veto on June 23, 1947. The bill used the threat of communist subversion to justify rolling back advantages labor had gained …

Robert A. Taft Fred A. Hartley CIO AFL CPUSA labor-rights red-scare institutional-capture corporate-power union-busting
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Hold the Line Order Freezes Wages While Corporate Profits Soar

| Importance: 7/10

President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9328, the “Hold the Line Order,” on April 8, 1943, directing the National War Labor Board to prohibit any further wage increases except to correct substandard conditions or inequities. The order freezes wages for most workers while corporate …

Franklin D. Roosevelt National War Labor Board Office of Price Administration AFL CIO +1 more wage-suppression labor-policy wartime-controls class-warfare economic-inequality
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National War Labor Board Established, No-Strike Pledge Constrains Unions

| Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt establishes the National War Labor Board (NWLB) by executive order on January 12, 1942, creating a tripartite body of labor, industry, and public representatives to arbitrate wartime labor disputes. In exchange for labor’s “no-strike pledge” for the duration of …

Franklin D. Roosevelt National War Labor Board AFL CIO William Davis +1 more labor-policy wartime-controls union-power wage-suppression corporate-influence
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