The History of the Fair Labor Standards Act

Abstract

After the great depression, unions were legalized in order to be the voice for the workers for whom they represented to their employers. Once this legalization became evident through federal statute, set the stage for what was to become the Fair Labor Standards Act. Having just survived a depression, the United States was hoping to avoid any future economic downturns, the government would accomplish this with paying higher wages that the employer could afford and employees could provide for their families.

The History of the Fair Labor Standards Act

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered by the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. …show more content…

Dept of Labor, 2005). President Roosevelt's work on the FLSA was put aside while he packed the U.S. Supreme Court with Justices that were of the opinion that the "Big Switch" was what the new deal needed. Subsequent amendments to the FLSA extended the law's coverage to additional employees and raised the level of the minimum wage. In 1949, the minimum wage was raised from forty cents an hour to 75 cents an hour. This covered all workers and minimum wage coverage was expanded to include workers in the air transport industry (U.S. Dept. of Labor, 2005).
President Roosevelt was the champion for the worker/citizen and blazed the way for nineteen amendments over the next forty-six years, creating the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1993 with numerous protections mainly for the employee, increasing the minimum wage to five dollars and fifteen cents. Global economy and global corporations in the twenty-first century will test the FLSA and require the need to revamp and to add additional protections for both employer and employee; both. The birth of the unions is attributed to President Roosevelt, most notably were the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO), which later merged to become the largest and most powerful union labor organization the AFL-CIO. The FLSA was the seed that gave birth to unions, labor organizations and higher wages and forced a better living standard for most of the