a right to unionize was recognized by the federal government in 1972.
a right to unionize was recognized by the federal government in 1972.
when was a right to unionize recognized by the federal government?
1972
archaeological evidence suggests humans have been either traveling through, or temporarily residing in, the area for about 10,000 years. pictographs found in the hot spring caves indicate that it was the ktunaxa people who first made more permanent use of the area, particularly the hot springs, several hundred years ago. european fur traders and trappers passed through, as did george simpson in 1841, through what would later be named simpson pass, during his circumnavigation of the world. likewise, james sinclair led red river colonists westward and pierre-jean de smet traveled eastward, through the area. the palliser expedition used the vermilion pass in 1858 and reported to british government its potential as a transportation route. on the columbia river side, an early homesteader included the hot spring that would later become radium hot springs in his land claim in the 1880s, but it was roland stuart and his business partner h.a. pearse who were successful in acquiring the 160 acres around the springs in 1890 as a provincial crown grant. while they intended on bottling the spring water, its remote location prevented such development and stuart offered to sell the property in 1909 to the canadian pacific railway company for $3000. though the offer was not accepted, railway engineer robert randolph bruce recognized the potential for a road through the area and advocated for it in 1910 with cpr president thomas shaughnessy and premier richard mcbride, as a commercial link for the province to calgary and eastern canada. the federal government agreed to build a road from banff to the park boundary at the provincial border at the vermilion pass, while the provincial government, with some funds from the cpr, would build a road from windermere to the border. however, the bc government under-estimated its cost, found itself over-budget and its work was suspended in 1913, while the federal government completed their portion in november 1914. to get the british columbia section completed, bruce traveled to ottawa to pitch the idea that they designate the western end of the route, through the rockies mountains, a national park so that road could be funded as a park improvement. with the popularity of banff national park made the commissioner of the parks branch, james bernard harkin, and officials of the minister of interior were receptive to expanding the park system there. in may 1916 minister william james roche began negotiations, and the subsequent minister of the interior agreed with the provincial counterparts to the banff-windermere agreement, that the federal government would complete the road within 4 years of the end of war, and maintain it thereafter, in exchange for the agreed upon land to be used for park purposes and a resolution to jurisdictional matters in the other federal parks in bc. the agreement was signed on march 12, 1919, and the federal government took ownership of the land in july 1919. by order in council 1920-0827 on april 21, 1920, the kootenay national park was created. the federal government repaired the provincial portion and completed the remainder, completed for public opening by june 1923.
kootenay national park
throughout the early 20th century, states enacted labor rights to advance social and economic progress. but despite the clayton act, and abuses of employers documented by the "commission on industrial relations" from 1915, the supreme court struck labor rights down as unconstitutional, leaving management powers virtually unaccountable. in this "lochner era", the courts held that employers could force workers to not belong to labor unions, that a minimum wage for women and children was void, that states could not ban employment agencies charging fees for work, that workers could not strike in solidarity with colleagues of other firms, and even that the federal government could not ban child labor. it also imprisoned socialist activists, who opposed the fighting in world war one, meaning that eugene debs ran as the socialist party's candidate for president in 1920 from prison. critically, the courts held state and federal attempts to create social security to be unconstitutional. because they were unable to save in safe public pensions, millions of people bought shares in corporations, causing massive growth in the stock market. because the supreme court precluded regulation for good information on what people were buying, corporate promoters tricked people into paying more than stocks were really worth. the wall street crash of 1929 wiped out millions of people's savings. business lost investment and fired millions of workers. unemployed people had less to spend with businesses. business fired more people. there was a downward spiral into the great depression. this led to the election of franklin d. roosevelt for president in 1932, who promised a "new deal". government committed to create full employment and a system of social and economic rights enshrined in federal law. but despite the democratic party's overwhelming electoral victory, the supreme court continued to strike down legislation, particularly the national industrial recovery act of 1933, which regulated enterprise in an attempt to ensure fair wages and prevent unfair competition. finally, after roosevelt's second overwhelming victory in 1936, and roosevelt's threat to create more judicial positions if his laws were not upheld, one supreme court judge switched positions. in "west coast hotel co v parrish" the supreme court found that minimum wage legislation was constitutional, letting the new deal go on. in labor law, the national labor relations act of 1935 guaranteed every employee the right to unionize, collectively bargain for fair wages, and take collective action, including in solidarity with employees of other firms. the fair labor standards act of 1938 created the right to a minimum wage, and time-and-a-half overtime pay if employers asked people to work over 40 hours a week. the social security act of 1935 gave everyone the right to a basic pension and to receive insurance if they were unemployed, while the securities act of 1933 and the securities exchange act of 1934 ensured buyers of securities on the stock market had good information. the davis–bacon act of 1931 and walsh–healey public contracts act of 1936 required that in federal government contracts, all employers would pay their workers fair wages, beyond the minimum, at prevailing local rates. to reach full employment and out of depression, the emergency relief appropriation act of 1935 enabled the federal government to spend huge sums of money on building and creating jobs. this accelerated as world war ii began. in 1944, his health waning, roosevelt urged congress to work towards a "second bill of rights" through legislative action, because "unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world" and "we shall have yielded to the spirit of fascism here at home."
united states labor law