A Study Of The Intervention Of The Federal Government On Labor-Capital Relations During The American Progressive Period

The progressive period was an important turning point in American history.The reform promoted by the progressive movement changed the politics,economy and culture of the United States.Through the analysis of the federal government’s intervention in labor relations,this paper discusses the new characteristics of labor relations in this period.This thesis is divided into four parts.The first part introduces the rise of American industrialization and progressive movement in the late 19 th century,which provides the conditions for the federal government to intervene in labor relations.The process of industrialization in the United States has accelerated the economic development and has also made the issue of labor conflicts increasingly prominent.At the same time,it has exposed the shortcomings of traditional American liberalism.With the rise of progressive ideological trends and the influence of the development of progressive movements,the power of the federal government has been expanded in the wave of social and economic changes,which has provided possibilities for its intervention in labor-management relations.The second part analyzes the measures of the federal government to specifically intervene in labor relations.The federal government enacted legislation to protect the rights of workers’ strike from illegal to legal,from prohibited to free,and recognized the union’s legal status.For the problem of labor conflict,the federal government has been changed from repressing into mediation and arbitration,and this process has gradually formed a regularized mediation mechanism by accident practice.The federal government has also guaranteed the life and health of laborers through the promulgation of such safeguard laws as the Federal Employees Compensation Act and the Keating-Owen Act.During world war I,the federal government established wartime labor policies to ensure production and support the United States in the war.The third part analyzes and thinks about the response of the community to the intervention of the federal government.As the two most direct subjects of labor relations,enterprises and labor have reacted differently to the intervention policies of the federal government.Enterprises of different types and sizes have different attitudes towards the intervention of the federal government.Large monopolies actively respond to government interventions and implement welfare capitalism within the company to protect workers’ rights and interests;some small and medium-sized enterprises are hostile to workers’ organizations and trade unions.The American Federation of Labor was the most representative labor organization of the period,and its leadership actively sought industrial cooperation but was not interested in the government’s welfare policies.Social public opinion has affirmed the federal government’s intervention policy and actively engaged in social reform.The concluding section summarizes the full text and reviews the federal government’s intervention in labor relations during this period.The federal government’s intervention policy did benefit workers and formed the prototype of a “tripartite coordination mechanism” with government,employers,and labor participation.However,due to the inability of the federal government to reach agreement with conservatism courts,there are certain problems in its policies.