In the United States Senate, the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee, or more formally, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor (1936–1941), began as an inquiry into a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation of methods used by employers in certain industries to avoid collective bargaining with unions.
John Dalrymple, president of the United Rubber Workers of America, testifies in March 1937 that a beating he received in Gadsden, Alabama, caused him to be hospitalized for several weeks with a concussion.
John W. Young (right), president of Federal Laboratories, confers with his secretary during testimony before the La Follette Committee in March 1937.
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the NLRB has the authority to supervise elections for labor union representation and to investigate and remedy unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity.
J. Warren Madden (left), Nathan Witt, and Charles Fahy (right) reviewing documents before a congressional hearing on December 13, 1937
Plaque on the exterior of 1099 14th Street NW in Washington, D.C., the NLRB headquarters as of 2013
Union members picketing NLRB rulings outside the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters in November 2007
J. Warren Madden, the first chairman of the NLRB, working at his desk at the NLRB in Washington, D.C., in June 1937
