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Difficulty: HardDomestic Cold War and the Second Red Scare

"No investigation shall be made by the [National Labor Relations] Board... and no complaint shall be issued pursuant to a charge made by a labor organization... unless there is on file with the Board an affidavit executed... by each officer of such labor organization... that he is not a member of the Communist Party or affiliated with such party, and that he does not believe in, and is not a member of or supports any organization that believes in or teaches, the overthrow of the United States Government by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional methods."

— Section 9(h) of the Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act), 1947

Which of the following best explains how the implementation of the policy in the excerpt affected the American labor movement during the Second Red Scare?

  1. It pressured labor federations to purge left-wing leaders and distance themselves from radical political activism to retain their legal bargaining rights.Answer
  2. B
    It represented a return to Gilded Age laissez-faire policies by completely eliminating the federal government's regulatory role in labor-management relations.
  3. C
    It was enacted as a key measure of New Deal-era reforms to expand federal protection for wildcat strikes and progressive union coalition building.
  4. D
    It was a treaty requirement designed to align American union membership with the joint military command structures of the Marshall Plan and NATO.

Answer

The implementation of the Taft-Hartley Act's non-communist affidavit requirement pressured labor federations to purge left-wing leaders and distance themselves from radical political activism to retain their legal bargaining rights.
The correct option is correct because Section 9(h) of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union officers to execute affidavits swearing they were not members of the Communist Party. Failing to do so meant the union could not utilize the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to petition for representation or file charges against employers. To protect their bargaining status, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and other federations purged communist-led unions and shifted towards politically moderate, anti-communist policies.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical context and the source document.
The excerpt is from Section 9(h) of the Taft-Hartley Act (1947), which requires labor union officers to sign affidavits declaring they are not members of the Communist Party.
Understanding the specific mechanism of the law helps identify its political and economic consequences.
2
Evaluate the consequences of non-compliance for unions.
If union officers refused to sign the affidavit, their union was denied access to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), stripping them of legal protections and collective bargaining rights.
This shows the high stakes involved for labor unions during the anti-communist purges.
3
Trace the response of major labor organizations.
To maintain NLRB services, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and other federations expelled communist-led unions and purged radical leaders, causing the labor movement to align more closely with mainstream, politically moderate anti-communism.
This links the government policy directly to the internal realignment of the labor movement.

Key Concept

Domestic impacts of the Cold War on institutions like labor unions during the Second Red Scare
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Topics

Domestic Cold War and the Second Red Scare

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