American Communications Association v. Douds

• United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437 (1965).
• Levine v. Supreme Court of Wisconsin, 679 F.Supp. 1478 (1988).

Usually referred to simply as the Taft-Hartley Act, the full name for the omnibus 1947 law was the "Taft-Hartley Labor-Management Relations Act." Its sponsors were Robert A. Taft, a senator from Ohio, and Fred A. Hartley, a representative from New Jersey.

The Taft-Hartley Act supplemented and amended the Wagner-Connery National Labor Relations Act of 1935, commonly called either the Wagner Act or the NLRA, the implementation of which was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In the 1930s, the power of labor unions was on the rise, and sympathy with business was at a low point; but by 1947, business was once again on the offensive in its relations with unions--and the nation as a whole was gripped by fear of Communism, which in some minds was closely tied with unionism.

Among its numerous provisions was a ban on closed shops--that is, work environments in which union control was so strong that no non-union workers were allowed--and the administration of an oath whereby union leaders would certify that none among their ranks belonged to the Communist party.

Sources

Bacon, Donald C., et al., eds. The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.