Early Strides

• In 1936, the United States was still struggling to recover from the Great Depression, and the economic turmoil of the time paved the way for an epic struggle to secure higher wages for the country's working class. The Supreme Court had struck down most labor rights laws as unconstitutional. But the New Deal, signed in 1933, contained legislation meant to foster higher wages for workers, called the National Industrial Recovery Act. In promoting it, Roosevelt asked employers to sign an agreement to limit the hours in a workweek and pay workers a minimum wage.
  
  

Setbacks

• Many of the president's early attempts to lay the foundation for a minimum wage were derailed by the Supreme Court, which invalidated state and federal wage laws and declared the foundations of the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional, most notably in 1936, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Joseph Tipaldo, the owner of a New York laundry who forced his workers to pay back the difference between the $10 a week he wanted to pay him and the state's minimum wage of $14.88. When Roosevelt won re-election that year, however, he interpreted it as a mandate to continue his support of federal minimum wages, which had been a major campaign issue.
  
  

The Walsh-Healey Act

• The Walsh-Healey Act was one of Roosevelt's first major successes in setting the framework for federal minimum wages and other labor standards in his second term. The bill was formulated by Perkins, an ardent workers' rights advocate. It expanded on President Herbert Hoover's Davis-Beacon Act, an attempt to gain workers' support for World War I by setting wage and fair labor standards as criteria for bidding on government building contracts. Perkins' idea was to apply the same standards to all government contractors, not just those in construction. The Walsh-Healey Act, sponsored by Massachusetts Sen. David Walsh and Massachusetts Rep. Arthur Healey, required employers to adopt an eight-hour workday and a 40-hour week, pay a "prevailing minimum wage," and employ only boys over 16 and girls over 18.
  
  

Repurcussions

• Most notably, the Walsh-Healey Act paved the way for the more sweeping Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. But the law had lasting implications and is still enforced today. It applies to all employers with government contracts exceeding $10,000 "for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles or equipment to the U.S. government or the District of Columbia." The act requires these employers to pay their workers the federal minimum wage and 1 1/2 times their regular pay rate for hours worked over 40 hours a week.