20th August
1862
Birth of the Eight-Hour Workday
Today marks a birthday of sorts for the eight-hour workday. In the
mid-1800s most people worked ten- or twelve-hour days, prompting
the newly formed National Labor Union (NLU) to call on Congress to
officially trim the workday. While Congress didn't heed the NLU's
pleas, the union's efforts pushed the issue onto the national
stage.
The public picked up the call for shorter hours, as did some
legislators: Federal employees were the first to enjoy truncated
days when Congress passed appropriate legislation in 1863. However,
after a few fruitful decades, the drive for the eight-hour day hit
a snag in 1886, when a strike by workers at the McCormick Reaper
Manufacturing Company turned bloody.
Though the workers, who had hit the picket line to protest for
shorter hours, were victims of violence, the ugly affair, along
with the ensuing Haymarket Riot, branded the push for the
eight-hour day as a radical movement. But, in 1923, the movement
received support from an unlikely ally, as the Carnegie Steel
Corporation granted shorter work hours to its employees.
Eventually, President Franklin Roosevelt made the eight-hour
workday an official part of his New Deal legislation.
