Records of the National Labor Relations Board
Records Available at the National Archives at Fort Worth
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency established by the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act (49 Stat. 195), July 5, 1935. Prior to its establishment, there were two predecessor agencies: the National Labor Board (NLB, 1933-34) and the National Labor Relations Board (1st NLRB, 1934-35). The Wagner Act was amended June 23, 1947 by the Labor-Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act (61 Stat. 136) and again on September 14, 1959 by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure (Landrum-Griffin) Act (73 Stat. 519). An additional change to the duties of the NLRB occurred June 25, 1943 under the War Labor Disputes (Smith-Connally) Act (57 Stat. 163) adding conducting representation elections in war industries. The NLRB’s original functions included the orderly and just settlement of labor disputes and the promotion of the observance of section 7(a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act.
The Board was authorized to conduct elections to determine the representatives of employees for the purpose of collective bargaining, to hold hearings and make findings of fact in controversies arising under section 7(a), and to act as an agency for the voluntary arbitration of controversies between employers and employees. The purpose of the agency is to protect the rights of certain private sector employees to organize and designate representatives for collective bargaining, determine appropriate bargaining units, conduct representation elections, and enforce prohibitions against specified unfair labor practices.
The records described in this inventory are from the NLRB District Offices of New Orleans, Louisiana; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. The San Antonio records include mostly correspondence and decisions by the board. The San Antonio Region was abolished in September of 1934. The region was split between New Orleans (District 7) and Fort Worth (District 13). The New Orleans records include minutes, correspondence, reports, and selected hearing files. The Fort Worth records include correspondence, reports, regional board decisions, and selected hearing files.