Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
Probably close to that time period. I seem to recall it being put into a larger labor bill (Taft-Hartley?). If I am right it was part of a bill that added unfair labor practice charges on unions.
Yep, that was it. The two were definitely linked.
The amendments required union leaders to file affidavits with the United States Department of Labor declaring that they were not supporters of the Communist Party and had no relationship with any organization seeking the "overthrow of the United States government by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional means" as a condition to participating in NLRB proceedings. Just over a year after Taft-Hartley passed, eighty-one thousand (81,000) union officers from nearly 120 unions had filed the required affidavits
While I do think Taft-Hartley may have gone a little overboard, in so much as limiting free speech, I also understand that the unions had gone into overdrive in the late 40s and were being more disruptive than beneficial.