asic physiological necessities were not being met. “When large numbers of people are suddenly barred from their traditional occupations, the entire structure of social control is weakened and may even collapse” (Piven and Cloward 7). During the depression, society experienced this symptom, which resulted in massive protests. The Democratic Party under the direction of Roosevelt recognized the need for government intervention. The party aligned itself with the working class and began to advocate worker’s rights legislation. Under Democratic Party control, federal funds were used to establish the Works Progress Administration, now known as the Work Project Administration, which distributed assistance to citizens in need of subsistence. In 1935, Roosevelt again used federal funds to create public works programs, which gave employment opportunities to the unemployed. As a result of declining republican political power, these and other initiatives were introduced to help increase worker’s rights. These worker’s rights that the Democratic Party supported were the same rights that the Republican Party had worked so hard to repress from regulation. In addition to passing labor rights laws, legislative action was taken against the wealthy industrialist’s use of legal injunctions. These lawful injunctions were used as an intimidating scheme to suppress union membership and ultimately strikes. In 1932 the U.S. congress enacted the Norris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act. This legislation severely limited the self-motivated employer’s use of injunctions as a standard operating procedure against strikes. Another tactic of wealthy employers to combat unions was the use of the open shop strategy. Abolishment of the open shop regime was usually one of the primary demands by labor unions in collective bargaining. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, known as the Wagner act, because of its sponsor Robert Wagne...
