Taft-Hartley Act

American  

[taft-hahrt-lee] / ˈtæftˈhɑrt li /

noun

1. an act of the U.S. Congress (1947) that supersedes but continues most of the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act and that, in addition, provides for an eighty-day injunction against strikes that endanger public health and safety and bans closed shops, featherbedding, secondary boycotts, jurisdictional strikes, and certain other union practices.

---

Taft-Hartley Act Cultural  

1. A major law concerning labor, passed by Congress in 1947. President Harry S. Truman vetoed Taft-Hartley (see veto), but it became law by a two-thirds vote of Congress. It marked a reversal of the pro-labor policies pursued under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. For example, the law prohibited a list of “unfair” labor practices and restricted the political activities of labor unions.

---

Example Sentences

When the Taft-Hartley Act was passed about a third of the workforce was unionized, with the proportion peaking in 1954 at 34.8 percent.

From Salon • Sep. 21, 2022

But labor power had taken a hit earlier: the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which weakened union power.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 10, 2022

It’s the passage in 1947 of the Taft-Hartley Act.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2019

During a major West Coast labor dispute at several ports, the Bush administration invoked the Taft-Hartley Act for the first time since 1971.

From Washington Post • Nov. 29, 2016

That statute is the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, sometimes called the Taft-Hartley Act.

From State of the Union Address by Truman, Harry S.