How was the Great Depression instrumental in setting the workplace governance rules in the United States?

As a result of the Great Depression, the general public became concerned about the ability of a purely competitive market model to provide reasonable terms and conditions of employment. As a result, legislation was passed that reflected a prevailing belief that unions are needed to counter the power of corporations. In addition, minimum working standards were established via the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure some basic working standards existed where no collectively bargaining was in place.