Date of Award
5-2019
Document Type
Senior Thesis - Open Access
Abstract
In 2019, workers in the United States often find themselves unable to support a family on the wages produced by one job, or even several, jobs. The pattern has obtained for more than a century. In this paper, I examine historical efforts to address this plight and discuss how nongovernment organizations may collaborate to combat the problem. I focus on the work of the National Consumers' League, and its efforts during the first three decades of the twentieth century to promote protective labor legislation. Specifically, I examine the NCL's work in connection with the Adkins v. Children's Hospital case that reached the Supreme Court in 1923, and the League's campaign to secure the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. I then explore the more recent Fight for $15, examine the ways in which the NCL is connected to this recent social movement, and look at how the movement might follow the examples of the organization to better effect a positive change to federal wage.
Recommended Citation
Mykyta-Chomsky, Rosa, "Lessons Learned: The National Consumers' League, The Fight for $15, and Their Battles to Raise the Minimum Wage" (2019). Senior Theses. 4.
https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/senior_theses/4
Included in
American Politics Commons, Economic History Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Political History Commons