An Act relating to the use and operation by the United States of certain plants, mines, and facilities in the prosecution of the war, and preventing strikes, lock-outs, and stoppages of production, and for other purposes.
Reported by the joint conference committee on June 10, 1943; agreed to by the House on June 11, 1943 (220-130) and by the Senate on June 12, 1943 (55-22)
Vetoed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1943
Overridden by the House and became law on June 25, 1943 (244-108)
The Smith–Connally Act[1]orWar Labor Disputes Act[2] (50 U.S.C. App. 1501 et seq.) was an American law passed on June 25, 1943, over President Franklin D. Roosevelt's veto.[3][4] The legislation was hurriedly created after 400,000 coal miners, their wages significantly lowered because of high wartime inflation, struck for a $2-a-day wage increase.[2][5]
The Act allowed the federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by or under strikes that would interfere with war production,[6] and prohibited unions from making contributions in federal elections.[7]
^The Act's correct title is "Smith-Connally," not "Smith-Connelly". See: Wagner, Kennedy, Osborne, and Reyburn, The Library of Congress World War II Companion, 2007, p. 196.
^ abMalsberger, From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism, 1938-1952, 2000, p. 104.
^Karatnycky, Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000-2001, 2000, p. 115.
^Karatnycky, Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000-2001, 2000, p. 114; Atleson, Labor and the Wartime State: Labor Relations and Law During World War II, 1998, p. 195.
^Wagner, Kennedy, Osborne, and Reyburn, The Library of Congress World War II Companion, 2007, p. 196.
^La Raja, Small Change: Money, Political Parties, and Campaign Finance Reform, 2008, p. 63; Sabato and Ernst, Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections, 2006, p. 279.
^Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II, 1995, p. 537; "Philadelphia Transit Strike (1944)," in Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History, 2007, p. 1087-1088; Winkler, "The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944," Journal of American History, June 1972.
Atleson, James B. Labor and the Wartime State: Labor Relations and Law During World War II. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Karatnycky, Adrian. Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 2000-2001. Rev. ed. Piscataway, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2000.
Klinkner, Philip A. and Smith, Rogers M. The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
La Raja, Raymond J. Small Change: Money, Political Parties, and Campaign Finance Reform. Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press, 2008.
Malsberger, John William. From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism, 1938-1952. Selinsgrove, Pann.: Susquehanna University Press, 2000.
"Philadelphia Transit Strike (1944)." In Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History. Eric Arnesen, ed. New York: CRC Press, 2007.
Sabato, Larry and Ernst, Howard R. Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. New York: Facts On File, 2006.
Wagner, Margaret E.; Kennedy, David M.; Osborne, Linda Barrett; and Reyburn, Susan. The Library of Congress World War II Companion. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007.
Winkler, Allan. "The Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944." Journal of American History. June 1972.
