NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Supreme Court Ruling
Aliquippa, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
In a landmark ruling on April 12, 1937, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. The company had fired unionized workers at its Aliquippa plant here, but the court ordered their reinstatement and established workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the depths of the Great Depression, the mill town of Aliquippa was company-dominated turf where Jones & Laughlin Steel fired workers for organizing. Their case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, and on April 12, 1937 the justices upheld the new National Labor Relations Act, ordering the men rehired. The ruling scattered decades of doubt about whether Congress could protect the right to unionize.
Why it matters
NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin gave constitutional backbone to American workers' right to organize and bargain collectively, reshaping the balance of power between labor and industry for the rest of the century.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related events
- · NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Allegheny Cotton Mill Strikes
Pittsburgh, PA · est. 2007
In 1845 and 1848, women who worked the cotton factories of Allegheny City walked off the job to protest brutal twelve-hour workdays, taking a stand in one of early America's first waves of industrial labor action. Their protests helped push Pennsylvania to pass an 1848 law capping the workday at ten hours and barring children under twelve from cotton and textile mills. These were among the earliest organized efforts by American working women to demand humane conditions.
Harmony Society Church
Ambridge, PA · est. 1967
Between 1828 and 1831 the Harmony Society—German Pietist immigrants who followed George Rapp in a communal, celibate religious life—raised this brick church at their town of Economy. The members made the bricks themselves, and the building, believed designed by Frederick Rapp, became the spiritual heart of one of America's most successful utopian communities. The Harmonists blended fervent millennial faith with shrewd industry, prospering while awaiting the Second Coming.
Old Economy Memorial
Ambridge, PA · est. 1947
In 1805 a band of German Pietist immigrants led by George Rapp organized the Harmony Society, a communal religious sect that held all property in common while awaiting the millennium. After earlier settlements in Pennsylvania and Indiana, they built their final home, Economy, along the Ohio River between 1824 and 1831. Their disciplined communal industry made them famously prosperous until the society dissolved a century later, in 1905.
Old Economy
Ambridge, PA · est. 1948
Old Economy was the third and final home of the Harmony Society, a communal religious sect of German immigrants led by George Rapp, who founded the group in 1805. Settling here in 1825, the Harmonists built a prosperous, tightly organized village whose farms, mills, and factories made the celibate community famous for its industry and wealth. The society endured until 1905, and its preserved village is now cared for by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.