Worker conditions & wages
All 16 modern US presidents ranked by their net score on this single sub-criterion. Good and harm are scored 0–10 independently; net is good minus harm. Click a name for the full scorecard.
Wagner Act (1935) legalized union organizing; Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) established minimum wage and 40-hour week; union density rose from ~11% (1932) to ~35% (1945).
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Two landmark laws structurally reset US labor relations and wage floor, with union density tripling across the FDR years.
congress.gov ↗
Peak union density (~33%). Real wages grew steadily. Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (1959) added some union accountability.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
US union density peaked at ~33% during Eisenhower years; real median wages grew ~25% across the term.
bls.gov ↗
Strong union era continued. Minimum wage increased. Real wages rose strongly. Federal contracting affirmative action.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Real median wages grew strongly during LBJ term; minimum wage rose from $1.25 to $1.60/hour.
bls.gov ↗
Steel price confrontation (April 1962) — pressured US Steel to roll back price hikes. Equal Pay Act 1963. Minimum wage increased.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Equal Pay Act 1963 prohibited gender-based wage discrimination, the first federal anti-discrimination law of the modern civil-rights era.
congress.gov ↗
Real wage growth strongest in bottom quartile in decades. NLRB strengthened. Strong union support ('most pro-union president'). Walked UAW picket line (Sept 2023) — first sitting president to do so.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Biden era saw strongest bottom-quartile real-wage growth in decades; first sitting president to walk a picket line (UAW September 2023); strengthened federal labor enforcement.
bls.gov ↗
OSHA created (1970) — major worker-safety federal expansion. Wage-price controls had mixed labor effects. Real wages flat to declining.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
OSHA Act created federal workplace-safety regulation, the major worker-protection federal expansion of the era; ~50% reduction in workplace fatalities over subsequent decades attributed to OSHA.
congress.gov ↗
Real wages rose substantially during late-1990s tightening labor market. Minimum wage raised 1996. NAFTA labor displacement contested.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Real median wages rose ~15% during Clinton term, the strongest sustained real-wage growth since 1970s; NAFTA produced manufacturing job displacement that emerged as political issue subsequently.
bls.gov ↗
Taft-Hartley Act (1947) passed over Truman's veto, rolling back Wagner Act protections. Truman opposed but lacked votes. Wage growth strong during boom.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Truman vetoed Taft-Hartley as 'dangerous to the freedom of speech and to our democratic society'; Congress overrode by 68-25 in the Senate.
congress.gov ↗
Real wage growth modest until late-term acceleration. Manufacturing partial recovery via auto bailout. Union density continued declining. Overtime rule expanded (blocked by courts).
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Auto industry bailout saved estimated 1-1.5 million jobs (GM, Chrysler restructuring); real median household income growth resumed late-term.
bls.gov ↗
Real wages stagnant. Union density continued declining. NAFTA negotiated (signed by Clinton).
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 1·Historical record·Unverified
NAFTA negotiations completed under GHW Bush; framework set for subsequent labor-market dislocation.
history.state.gov ↗
Real wages stagnant. Unemployment-era labor weakness. ERISA (1974) enacted — major pension protection law.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
ERISA established federal pension and benefit protection framework that became foundational for US employer-sponsored retirement system.
congress.gov ↗
Real wage growth modest pre-pandemic. Workforce participation rate flat. Overtime rule weakened. Joint employer rule weakened. Manufacturing employment essentially flat.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- good·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Real median household income rose modestly pre-pandemic before pandemic-era collapse; manufacturing employment essentially flat across the term contrary to campaign rhetoric.
bls.gov ↗
Real wages fell substantially due to inflation. Deregulation (airlines, trucking) shifted labor patterns. Minimum wage increased.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Real wages fell ~10% during Carter term due to inflation; deregulation reduced unionized employment in airlines and trucking sectors.
bls.gov ↗
Federal workforce mass terminations. NLRB weakened. Federal contractor diversity programs eliminated. Manufacturing returns rhetoric vs. tariff disruption.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 2·Historical record·Unverified
Approximately 100,000+ federal workers terminated or accepting deferred resignation during early Trump T2; substantial federal labor enforcement reduction.
Federal workforce reduction reports 2025; NLRB changes
Real wages flat. Union density continued declining. Manufacturing jobs lost. Late-term Great Recession devastated working-class employment.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 1·Statistic·Unverified
Manufacturing employment fell by approximately 4.5 million during GW Bush term; real median household income fell ~5% from 2001 to 2009.
bls.gov ↗
PATCO firing (August 1981) broke air traffic controllers' strike, fired 11,345 employees, decertified union. Set precedent for aggressive private-sector union breaking. Union density fell from 23% (1981) to 17% (1989). Real wages flat for non-supervisory workers.
View 1 source →Hide sources ↑
- harm·Tier 1·Primary document·Unverified
Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers and decertified their union; this action is widely cited as the inflection point for declining US union density across all sectors.
bls.gov ↗