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The National Labor Relations Act at 75:
Its Legacy and Its Future

Law School conference revisits the historic legislation.


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Photos by Claire Duggan

During a two-day conference in October, GW Law helped the National Labor Relations Board celebrate 75 years of enforcing the National Labor Relations Act.

The NLRA is the primary law governing relations between employers and employees in the private sector and was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 5, 1935, during a time of high unemployment and severe economic distress. Roosevelt declared that the new law was intended to achieve "common justice and economic advance."

In the following years, millions of employees have voted in workplace elections and millions more have bargained collectively with their employers under the NLRA's protection. Since its inception, the law has been controversial, and it continues to evoke strong views by advocates for labor and management.

The October conference examined the contributions the NLRA has made to the nation's economic and social landscape while asking the questions: Can this 1935 law, which first established the rights of American workers to join a union, adapt to a dramatically changed global environment? Is there a better model?

Panels featured some of the top thinkers in labor and related studies, including legal scholars, economists, and historians. The panels were moderated by current and former members of the NLRB, as well as the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The keynote luncheon address was provided by Ron Bloom, White House senior counselor for manufacturing policy.

"Both our country and our world have changed a great deal over the last eight decades," NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman, JD '74, said, "but the values reflected in the National Labor Relations Act—democracy in the workplace and fairness in the economy—are still vitally important."

To watch a webcast, read the articles written for the conference, and to view more images, visit: www.law.gwu.edu.


White House Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy Ron Bloom gave the conference keynote address: "Hanging Together or Hanging Separate: Thoughts on the Role for Labor in the Global Economy."


NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman, JD '74, and UCLA Law School Professor Noah D. Zatz.


The Hon. Laurence H. Silberman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Freda H. Alverson Professor of Law Charles Craver, GW Law, and Marshall Babson, partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Judge Silberman gave a lecture titled "Legacy of the NLRA: The Board and the Courts."


The "Historical Legacy of the National Labor Relations Act: Its Impact on the American Society and Economy" panel featured (left to right): George Cohen, director, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; Professor Dorothy Sue Cobble, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers; Herbert Ascherman Professor of Economics; Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University; Professor Bruce E. Kaufman, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University; and Professor James Augustine Gross (at podium), Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.


White House Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy Ron Bloom gave the conference keynote address: "Hanging Together or Hanging Separate: Thoughts on the Role for Labor in the Global Economy."


NLRB attorneys Magda Johanna Gomez and Marissa Wagner (far left and far right) and NLRB member Mark Pearce (second from left) speak with NLRB interns from Cornell University.


NLRB Associate Chief Administrative Law Judge Mary Cracraft and Assistant General Counsel Nelson Levin.


NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman, JD '74, Chief of Staff Arlene Klepper, JD '74, and General Counsel Lafe Solomon smile by the anniversary cake that guests enjoyed at the reception.