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No one 118 years ago could have foreseen just how much labor law would evolve over the coming decades, nor predicted that it would give rise to the sector of employment law and usher in even greater legal protections for both employees and their employers.

In 1887, Oregon became the first state to pass a law making Labor Day a holiday. The federal statute was passed seven years later after several striking Pullman workers were killed by U.S. soldiers and law enforcement officials.

Greater protection for workers was the driving force behind the National Labor Relations Act, which was passed in 1935 and amended in 1947. Since then, it has remained mostly the same, says John Bishop, a partner and labor attorney with McKanna Bishop Joffe & Arms. Another consistency over the years is the enduring 鈥� and often cantankerous 鈥� link between labor and politics. In his 25-plus years of practice, Bishop has seen the pendulum swing many times.

鈥淚n my career, depending on who is in office as president, things get bad for labor or they don鈥檛 get bad for labor,鈥� Bishop says. 鈥淭he rules themselves don鈥檛 change, but the interpretation of the laws changes depending on who is on the National Labor Relations Board.鈥�

Bishop credits the Obama administration for giving the NLRB teeth to enforce existing labor laws and ensure the right of employees to bargain for wages, benefits and other conditions. Bishop says that a growing number of people don鈥檛 truly understand the extent of what the NLRA established during the 鈥�30s and 鈥�40s.

“The whole labor movement gave birth to the middle class and the growth of the middle class. Since the 1960s it鈥檚 been on a downward trend and there is greater ignorance about what the laws were intended to do. As labor membership has decreased, so has the size of the middle class,鈥� he says.

As Dana Sullivan sees it, employees have seen a tremendous amount of progress when it comes to their civil rights. Sullivan, a partner at Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan, points to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act as examples.

鈥淚 think businesses have really come to recognize that to have a long-term, committed workforce, allowances need to be made for people who have commitments outside of work,鈥� she says.

Whistleblower laws are another example. Sullivan was part of the 2009 effort to pass a whistleblower statute that protects private-sector employees in Oregon. Before January 2010, those protections extended only to public-sector employees.

鈥淲hat really struck me about the Legislature鈥檚 approach to that issue was the sense of needing to empower employees to come forward about corporate misconduct, and what better way to do that than to offer them protection,鈥� Sullivan says, noting there was little opposition to the bill.

Victor Kisch, a partner in Stoel Rives鈥� Labor and Employment Group, represents employers in disputes with employees and labor unions and says he has witnessed an interesting dynamic since employment law emerged as a practice sector.

鈥淚f you look back to the 1970s, there was no field called employment law. It didn鈥檛 even exist,鈥� Kitsch says. 鈥淚n the last 20 years, there鈥檚 been an explosion of employment claims that have given individuals far greater rights than they would have had as members of unions, and I think that is a reason union membership has declined so drastically.鈥�