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Evaluate the interpretations in passages A and B and explain which you think is the more convincing explanation of the impact if the New Deal on trade union and labour rights.

Passage A

Adapted from Nicholas Fellows and Mike Wells, The Great Depression and the Americans 1929-1939 (2013)

The second New Deal was more radical than the first as it tried to reform areas which affected ordinary people, such as union rights. Following the 1934 elections, with the left wing making huge gains, Roosevelt wanted to realign himself with this development. This encouraged a more radical outlook. The first major Act was the Wagner Act which was passed in June 1935. Roosevelt was reluctant to become involved in labour relations and did not initiate this Act, only giving it his support when it passed the Senate and was likely to become law. This Act was a landmark in US history as it forced employers to recognise unions, forbade the sacking of workers for being union members, gave workers some legal protection and established the National Labor Relations Board. This Act helped to create a peaceful way to solve labour disputes and end the violence that had characterised industrial unrest in the USA. Its success can be seen in the rise of union membership.

Passage B

Adapted from Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States: 1492 to the Present (1999).

It was to stabilise labour relations in the face of industrial unrest that the Wagner Act of 1935 was passed. There were waves of sit down strikes not controlled by regular union leadership. In 1936 there were 48 and in 1937 477. In Chicago in 1937 a strike a Republic Steel brought the police out, firing at the strikers. The Wagner Act, from the unions' point of view, helped union organising. From the government's point of view it was an aid to the stability if business and trade. Employers did not want unions but they were more controllable and more stabilising on the system than wildcat strikes by rank and file workers. Workers won most during the spontaneous uprisings before the unions were recognised or well organised. Even when union membership rose enormously during the Second World War, the power of the unions was less than before. The members of the National Labor Relations Board were less sympathetic to workers, and state governments passed laws to hamper strikes.