Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Labor Leader Essay

Political Background Franklin D. Roosevelt was the longest running chairman of the joined submits. He was at the helm of the nation from the end of the wide imprint to the end of the Second World War. Spanning 12 long time, his administration confront the toughest times in U.S. history. However, his policies and programs must have effectively addressed both foreign and domestic crises as evidenced by the popular leave that kept him in the White House. FDR entered politics as a populist and won a seat in the youthful York Senate in 1910 as well governorship of New York in 1928. He was an advocate of the farmers in New York and an opponent of corruption in presidency which manifested in the activities of the Tweed b tell (Miller Center, 2008). His style of governance was both progressive and nationalist where he believed in equality among peoples and accountability of regimen. He became assistant secretary to the navy then(prenominal) made his comeback as governor of New York in 1928 subsequently years of battling with polio. His political c areer culminated in his election as United States president in 1932. He was re-elected thrice after but was inefficient to finish his last term because of his sudden death.Involvement in grasp instruction Relations Well before his inauguration and into the first years of his administration, he saw the crisis brought about by overproduction bring agriculture and manufacturing to a standstill into what is known as the Great Depression. Thousands of tameers became unemployed and farmers were fructify to lose their farms and property to creditors. Poverty, hunger, joblessness and uncertainty lurked evidenced everywhere. FDR believed that capitalism is the most ripe economy. However, it has its flaws if unregulated so that necessary reforms should be made to enable government to regulate the economy (Miller Center, 2008). At the height of the Great Depression, FDRs primordial solution to U.S. industry was encaps ulated in the National Industry Recovery transaction. The NIRA seek to stimulate production by creating demand for products through public whole caboodle construction (Miller Center, 2008). This in turn generated employment for the multitudes of jobless Americans. The get along besides gave incentives to industry and at the same time provided protection for workers in monetary value of wage regulation and the right to collectively bargain and organize (Dubofsky, 1994, p.111). However, the NIRA was generally unsuccessful because it failed to take into account the basic laws that governed capitalism. FDR tried a young tack through the Workers Progress Administration, the Wagner-Connery National moil Relations Act and the Social Security Act. The WPA sustained and expanded the earlier efforts of job foundation garment (Miller Center, 2008). Millions of Americans were paid by government to construct schools buildings, hospital facilities and transport infrastructure. It simi larly provided the necessary training in order to be eligible for employment. The Wagner-Connery Act was the successful attempt at legislating the workers public aid stated in the earlier NIRA. This Act ensured workers rights to collective bargain and union organization (Dubofsky, 1994, p.131). It further established a government agency to oversee its implementation the National outwear Relations posting which became the workers unions grievance center for the unfair wage and undertaking practices committed by company focus (Dubofsky, 1994, p.128). In 1938, FDR enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act to complement the Wagner-Connery Act. The FLSA set up a effectual negligible working mans wage and pegged the legal maximum hours of work each day as additional measures against worker exploitation (Miller Center, 2008). As a result, union membership ballooned to more than 10 million by the 1940s. The Social Security Act instituted welfare benefits for the workers such as assistan ce and insurance during old age, insurance for the unemployed, assistance to dependent children and the blind (Miller Center, 2008). The gold for this program were subtracted regularly from the workers payoff. FDR further initiated a socialize tax scheme which aimed to tax the wealthier more and the workers less, though this was largely panorama down by Congress. The major economic problems involving industry during the Great Depression forced FDR to be involved with labor management. Workers formed the bulk of the electorate, and as a liberal reformer, he saw it his responsibility as a public official to improve their conditions. His sensitivity and knowledge regarding the unequal traffic between management and workers enabled him to effectively translate workers rights into legislation.Contribution to Labor Management Relations FDR has greatly contributed to labor management relations by creating legal mechanisms by which workers can exercise their rights and demand fairer wa ges along with better working conditions and benefits from management. These mechanisms are in due actualization of the fact that workers and management have contradictory interests the former aims to obtain high wagers while the latter aims to decrease production costs through bring down wages. The labor and welfare acts that saw implementation during FDRs administration are also evidence of the worker being in a disadvantaged position. It recognized that the only manner in which workers can engage management with regards to their remuneration and work environment is through their collective bargaining. In order for workers to be forceful, they must consolidate themselves into a union as their locus for organized action. The Wagner Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act also range to the need for government arbitration in labor disputes with the National Labor Relations Board as the mediating agency between unions and management.List of ReferencesDubofsky, M. (1994). The State a nd Labor in Modern America. North Carolina University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved 25 marching 2008 from http//www.questia.com/readMiller Center Public Affairs University of Virginia (2008). American death chair An Online Reference Resource Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). Retrieved 25 March 2008 from http//millercenter.org/academic.