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The answer to your question depends on the era and legislation you're asking about. The US Supreme Court overturned Congress' attempts at establishing labor and wage regulation for about half a century.

During the Lochner era of the early 20th-century, the primary reason given was that legislation violated employees' substantive due process right of "liberty to contract" with an employer, as an extension of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also held minimum wage legislation set an artificial value on labor. While the decisions were couched in terms of constitutional protection of workers, in reality, the Court was protecting industry by helping them suppress wages.

Later, when President Roosevelt tried to establish federal control over labor conditions as part of the New Deal, the Court held Congress had overstepped its authority under the Interstate Commerce Clause, and had no right to regulate industries that operated entirely within a state (intrastate).

For more specific information, see Related Questions, below.

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Q: Why did the US Supreme Court rule federal labor laws were unconstitutional?
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Related questions

Why were early progressive attempts to enact federal bans on child labor unsuccessful?

Two years after the bands were made they were declared unconstitutional in the United State Supreme Court due to it interfering with the states rights to regulate labor.


Why was the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act overturned by the supreme court in 1918?

The Supreme Court overturned the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act in 1918 because it deemed the federal government's regulation of child labor as unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the Act violated the Tenth Amendment and infringed upon the rights of states to regulate labor within their borders.


Why did the Supreme Court find the Keating-Owens law unconstitutional?

It was on the grounds that child labor was not interstate commerce and therefore only state could regulate it.


Why were early progressive attempts to enact bans on child labor unsuccessful?

Two years after the bands were made they were declared unconstitutional in the United State Supreme Court due to it interfering with the states rights to regulate labor.


Which two New Deal programs did the Supreme Court rule unconstitutional?

The National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Agency, both part of the New Deal, were accused of being unconstitutional. Small business owners felted disadvantaged by big businesses, who had a part in the drafting of the NRA's codes. Organized labor was upset because they were effectively shut out. In the Supreme Court case Schecter vs. United States, the agency was ruled as unconstitutional. The Agricultural Adjustment Agency was accused of hurting southern tenant farmers (Sharecroppers) in the south. Cotton planters took the federal money, removed the land from production then displaced the sharecroppers. In the case of United States vs. Butler, the court ruled the AAA was unconstitutional as well.


Did the Supreme Court declare the Wagner Act unconstitutional?

No. The US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (aka Wagner Act) that prevented private industry from penalizing or discriminating against unions and labor organization in the case National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, 301 U.S. 1 (1937). Five of the nine justices held there was a legitimate connection to interstate commerce, allowing Congress the authority to pass legislation regulating certain aspects of the labor-industry relationship.The Supreme Court declared the National Recovery Administration unconstitutional in 1935; the Wagner Act was the first piece of New Deal legislation the Court upheld, signaling a change in the Supreme Court's support of Roosevelt's economic policies.Case Citation:National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, 301 U.S. 1 (1937)


How did the Supreme Court rule on labor issues?

At what point in history? The US Supreme Court has changed its stance on labor laws and workplace protection a number of times.


What departments of the federal government are unconstitutional?

department of education dept of labor department of energy


What secretary of labor was also on supreme court?

Wirtz


How did the supreme court rule on labor issues 1900?

The Supreme Court during the early 1900s generally adopted a pro-business stance when ruling on labor issues. Key cases like Lochner v. New York (1905) held that state regulations on working hours violated workers' liberty to contract, while Adair v. United States (1908) deemed federal laws prohibiting employers from discriminating against employees based on union membership unconstitutional. These rulings undermined labor rights and unionization efforts.


How did the supreme court rule the in re debs by the pullman strike?

The governmet had the authority to end labor strikes


How did the international labor defense help the Scottsboro boys?

They got Samuel Leibowitz to represent the boys, appealed it to the Alabama Supreme Court and then the US Supreme Court.