Timeline 1900-1946

In a message to Congress following a strike in the anthracite coal fields in Pennsylvania, President Theodore Roosevelt recognizes the public interest in labor-management relations.

The federal mediation function is born. The U.S. Conciliation Service is created at the Department of Labor.

After major rail strikes of the early 1920s, Congress enacts the Railway Labor Act, establishing the National Mediation Board with jurisdiction in the railroad industry, and with the power to prevent interruptions in commerce in the railroad industry. The law allows railroad unions to organize and bargain collectively.

Norris/La Guardia (Anti-Injunction Act) enacted to limit the power of Federal courts to issue injunctions in labor disputes which would deny workers full freedom of association, self-organization, designation of bargaining representatives of their own choosing, or negotiation of terms and conditions of employment.