01/26/2018 1 The Second New Deal Notes Day 3 New Deal Unconstitutional? • Supreme Court attacked New Deal programs – AAA – govn’t can’t regulate agriculture – NIRA – president can’t issue “codes of fair competition” to businesses • Reform (this was the major focus) – Wanted to make sure another depression would never occur again • Security – Created a new system to protect ordinary citizens from economic disaster • Bonus of the 2 nd New Deal? – Labor reform – Social security system • $11 billion to public works • Nine million jobs • Hired artists, architects, writers, musicians – Painted murals, designed buildings, wrote guidebooks, produced plays and concerts Unemployment insurance Retirement benefits Grants for disabled and orphaned • “safety net” to fall back on • Paid out of a special tax on payrolls (unemployment) and wages (retirement) • National Labor Relations Act aka the “Wagner Act” – Gave workers the right to form unions, bargain collectively, and submit grievances to NLRB – No “unfair” anti‐union practices • Fair Labor Standards Act – max. working hours & minimum wage – Prohibited child labor in factories • “Sit‐Down” Strike (1936) – GM plant in Flint, MI – Workers occupied the factory so it couldn’t be used – Federal gov. wouldn’t interfere – GM forced to recognize automobile workers union Conservatives (Right Wing) Reactions to the New Deal • New Deal went too far Liberals (Left Wing) • New Deal didn’t go far enough FDR super popular: even if not successful, he was actively fighting the Depression Democratic “Solid South” = workers, the poor, African Americans, & other minorities