In September 1959 Congress passed the Landrum-Griffin Act, also known as the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. It was designed to hinder blackmail, gangsterism, and racketeering or illegal business in labor organizations. It was passed in reaction to widespread publicity during the 1950s about corruption in unions and their possible ties to organized crime. The act banned ex-convicts from holding union offices and required frequent elections of officers. It also regulated the investment of union funds and established federal penalties for union leaders who misused union funds. Strengthening the Taft-Hartley Act, the Landrum-Griffin Act made the ban on secondary boycotts stricter. Secondary boycotts occurred when unions tried to stop one employer from dealing with another employer who was being boycotted or struck. The act also gave states greater freedom in determining to what degree workers in their state could unionize. This provision made it difficult for unions to organize in the South, the least unionized region in the United States.
