Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) on July 5, 1935. The Act significantly expanded the government’s powers to intervene in labor relations. Before the law, employers had liberty to spy upon, question, punish, blacklist and fire Union members. In the 1930s, workers began to organize in large numbers. A great wave of work stoppages in 1933 and 1934 included citywide general strikes and factory occupations by workers. Hostile fights erupted between workers who sought to organize. Some historians maintain that Congress enacted the NLRA to stave off revolutionary labor unrest.