The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 forms the basis of legal regulation of collective bargaining in the private sector. Other statutes, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, provide substantive guarantees for individual employees who work for employers engaged in interstate commerce and a “floor” below which workers should not fall. In the case of the FLSA, minimum wages and maximum hours are provided. The Walsh-Healy Act and the Davis-Bacon Act provide minimum conditions for employees of government contractors, although the applicability of so-called prevailing wage legislation remains a matter of dispute.

The minimum wage reached $5.15 per hour in 1997 and $7.25 in 2009. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa has said that from 1968 through 2012 the minimum wage has been reduced by approximately 30 percent, and he has thus introduced a bill to raise it to $9.88 per hour. In light of continued lethargy at the national level, ten states raised their minimum wage at the beginning of 2013, such as Washington, which now provides $9.19 per hour; Oregon, $8.95; Vermont, $8.60; and Connecticut, $8.50 per hour. During the 2008 campaign President Obama called for amending the federal statute so as to provide for $9.50 per hour in more states and localities and to provide for superior benefits. Failure to address the minimum wage in recent years is undoubtedly a factor in increased income and wealth inequality, a subject that finally began to get some measure of notice in 2011 and 2012.