Which U.S. law, enacted in 1935, established the right of many workers to organize and bargain collectively?

The National Labor Relations Act, enacted in 1935, established the right of many U.S. workers to organize and bargain collectively.

Also called the Wagner Act, the law was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the New Deal. It protected employees who formed or joined unions and who acted together to improve workplace conditions. It also prohibited employers from engaging in specified unfair labor practices.

The law created the National Labor Relations Board, which conducts representation elections and investigates alleged violations. The NLRB remains an independent federal agency rather than a division of the Department of Labor.

The act did not cover every worker. Exclusions included many government employees, agricultural workers, domestic workers, and railway and airline employees covered by other laws. The Taft–Hartley Act later amended the national labor-relations framework in 1947.