Eight-Hour Day

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

the period fixed y the demand of the international labor ovement as the maximum length of a ay's work. With the introduction of steam-driven machinery in England, in the early part of last century, together with the factory system, manufacturers gained almost autocratic control of the hundreds of thousands of workers at their disposal, and the length of a day's work reached the limits of human endur- Twelve and fourteen hours were ance. the average, while women and children were often compelled to work sixteen and eighteen hours a day. These and similar evils led to organization of the workers for protective purposes. Through their efforts, both by economic and political action, the working day was gradually shortened. The first demand for an eight-hour day was voiced in England as far back as 1833, and the British Trade Union Congress at Birmingham, held in 1869, presented it as one of its fundamental principles. In the United States the National Labor Union declared for an eight-hour day in 1866. During the period of so many strikes, 1872-1873, "eight-hour leagues" were a prominent feature of the labor disturbances of that time. This principle of limiting the day's work was fiercely fought by the manufacturers and other employers, who contended that it was a matter to be regulated only by employer and employee, without outside interfernce, but organized labor and its friends contended that the status of the single, unorganized workers was economically too weak to enable him to have a voice in regulating an agreement with his employer. It was the first step in "collective bargaining." In the matter of legislation as well as an employer of labor the Federal Governtment has taken the lead. In 1869 Congress enacted the first eight-hour law, applying it to the workers in the United EIMEO States navy yards. Now all workers directly employed by the Federal Government are similarly protected, and in 1912 Congress enacted a law making the eight-hour day a part of the contract with all private firms or employers working for the Federal Government, with some minor exceptions. Most of the States have passed similar legislation for their directly employed workers, and a large number have followed the large example of the Federal Government in extending it to contract work. The tendency to enact and extend such legislation continues to increase; in 1919 seven States passed laws in this direction-Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. A smaller number of States have already begun to enforce the eight-hour day in private industry, notably for women and children and mine workers. Among these are Utah and North Dakota. Organized labor has enforced this standard with even more success; at the present time the eight-hour day is universal in the building and printing trades and in coal mining.