The Long View of the NLRA at 70. . . . Or, the More Things Change??

Abstract:     
The National Labor Relations Act was a product of the FDR initiatives combating the economic and social misery of the Great Depression. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Act. For the past two decades, labor activists have been the most severe critics of the Act, regarding it as, at best, obsolete, and, more likely, counterproductive to union organizing campaigns. The ABA, New York State Bar, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York co-sponsored a major conference on May 25, 2005, to examine the current state of the NLRA. My opening remarks, encapsulated in this essay, suggest that global economics radically eclipse the capability of the NLRA, and, for that matter, of unions and of employers to provide for economic equity.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 6

Accepted Paper Series