By virtue of the authority vested in me under title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (Public, No. 67, 73d Cong.), and in order to effectuate the policy of said act, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby provide for and direct the enforcement of certain provisions of section 7 (a) of said act and the conditions contained therein, as incorporated in, and made a part of, any code of fair competition, or agreement heretofore or hereafter approved or prescribed by me, in the following manner: 1. Whenever the National Labor Board shall determine, in such manner as it sees fit, that a substantial number (as defined in the discretion of the Board) of the employees, or of any specific group of employees, of any plant or enterprise or industrial unit of any employer subject to such a code or agreement, have requested the Board to conduct an election to enable them to choose representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection in the exercise of the rights assured to them in said section 7 (a), the Board shall make the arrangements for and supervise the conduct of an election, under the exclusive control of the Board and under such rules and regulations as the Board shall prescribe. Thereafter the Board shall publish promptly the names of those representatives who are selected by the vote of at least a majority of the employees voting, and have been thereby designated to represent all the employees eligible to participate in such an election for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection in their relations with their employer. 2. Whenever the National Labor Board shall have determined upon an investigation, or as the result of an election, that the majority of the employees of an employer, or the majority of any specific group of employees, have selected their representatives in accordance with the provisions of said section 7 (a), and shall have certified the names of such representatives to their employer, and thereafter upon complaint or on its own motion, the Board shall determine that such an employer has declined to recognize or to deal with said representatives, or is in any other way refusing to comply with the requirements of said section 7 (a), the Board shall report its determination promptly to the Administrator for Industrial Recovery for appropriate action. 3. The powers and duties herein conferred upon the National Labor Board are in addition to, and not in derogation of, any powers and duties conferred upon such Board by any other Executive order. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT Approval recommended: H. S. J. The White House, February 1, 1934.
Executive Order 6580—Authorizing the National Labor Board to Conduct Union Representation Elections
Executive Brief • At a Glance
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby provide for and direct the enforcement of certain provisions of section 7 (a) of said act and the conditions contained therein, as incorporated in, and made a part of, any code of fair competition, or agreement heretofore or hereafter approved or prescribed by me, in the following manner: 1.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 1, 1934, this order concerns Authorizing the National Labor Board to Conduct Union Representation Elections. I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby provide for and direct the enforcement of certain provisions of section 7 (a) of said act and the conditions contained therein, as incorporated in, and made a part of, any code of fair competition, or agreement heretofore or hereafter approved or prescribed by me, in the following manner: 1.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby provide for and direct the enforcement of certain provisions of section 7 (a) of said act and the conditions contained therein, as incorporated in, and made a part of, any code of fair competition, or agreement heretofore or hereafter approved or prescribed by me, in the following manner: 1.
Whenever the National Labor Board shall determine, in such manner as it sees fit, that a substantial number (as defined in the discretion of the Board) of the employees, or of any specific group of employees, of any plant or enterprise or industrial unit of any employer subject to such a code or agreement, have requested the Board to conduct an election to enable them to choose representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection in the exercise of the rights assured to them in said section 7 (a), the Board shall make the arrangements for and supervise the conduct of an election, under the exclusive control of the Board and under such rules and regulations as the Board shall prescribe.
Thereafter the Board shall publish promptly the names of those representatives who are selected by the vote of at least a majority of the employees voting, and have been thereby designated to represent all the employees eligible to participate in such an election for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection in their relations with their employer. 2.
Whenever the National Labor Board shall have determined upon an investigation, or as the result of an election, that the majority of the employees of an employer, or the majority of any specific group of employees, have selected their representatives in accordance with the provisions of said section 7 (a), and shall have certified the names of such representatives to their employer, and thereafter upon complaint or on its own motion, the Board shall determine that such an employer has declined to recognize or to deal with said representatives, or is in any other way refusing to comply with the requirements of said section 7 (a), the Board shall report its determination promptly to the Administrator for Industrial Recovery for appropriate…
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 6580 (Feb. 1, 1934), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-6580-authorizing-the-national-labor-board-conduct-union-representation.