Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what
you will. Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will.
For almost a century, that slogan was chanted by countless workers, who were demanding a shorter
work day. In the 1890s, the average industrial laborer worked around 16 hours a day. Compare
that to today's eight hour work day, and you had a lot of tired and angry workers. So how do we get
all the labor laws that guide an adult's working life, such as the eight hour work day? In today's
lesson we're going to find out by examining the eight hour day movement. The lesson's essential
question: how do labor unions impact workplace conditions and worker rights in the United States?
The two guiding questions are: what is the purpose of a labor union? And what methods
do labor unions use to influence business practices and labor laws in the United States?
In the last
lesson,
you learned that industrialization led to immense profits and power for industry leaders, but
extreme poverty for workers. What could workers do to improve working conditions and their lives?
Well, they organized national and even International labor unions. A labor union refers
to a collective group of workers that advocate for higher wages and better working conditions. In
this section, we'll discuss the purpose of unions. A union's main purpose is to obtain higher wages,
fewer work hours, and better work conditions for labor. But a union's purpose is also to
help workers pressure owners, politicians, and the public to make decisions that help labor.
Just take a look at this charter from a union called the international workers.
At the top, the charter says, "Labor is entitled to all it produces." According to unions, it's
their job to make sure some of the profit from the goods a laborer makes goes to higher wages,
fewer work hours, and better work conditions. In short, an overall better work environment.
At the bottom it says, in union is strength. This means that a Union's purpose was also to use the
workers' collective strength to pressure owners and politicians to make decisions that help labor.
Now let's look at how the eight-hour movement represents a union's different purposes.
Early labor unions fought hard to get a national eight-hour work day.
For example, the very first national labor union in the United States, appropriately named the
National Labor Union, said that their main goal was: "the passing of a law by which eight hours
shall be the normal working day in all states of the American Union. We are resolved to put forth
all our strength until this glorious result is achieved." After the National Labor Union
took up the eight-hour workday, more regional and national unions joined the cause. The eight-hour
movement focused on reducing the number of hours labored in a day, while still making the same
daily salary. This would increase their hourly pay and improve their overall work environment,
and the movement focused on pressuring politicians to take up labor issues and their official planks,
which are political party positions used in campaigns. Before we strike those off our
learning list, let's answer the first guiding question. What is the purpose of a labor union?
Historically, labor unions used strikes and collective bargaining as two key methods
to impact business practices and protect worker rights in the United States. A strike is a tactic
used by laborers when they refuse to work until employers agreed to improve working conditions.
For example, these Mia workers hope to use the strike to ensure their demands are heard
by working together to shut down production. This forces the owner and managers to the negotiating
table to meet with union representatives who voice the workers' demands. The process of
negotiating is known as collective bargaining, because by cooperating, the workers force the
owner to compromise. But wait, unions do not just organize strikes and help workers negotiate with
management. Take a look at this picture. What is the union representative doing with the workers?
That's right. The union is teaching workers about their rights and place in society,
which empowers workers. This helps workers express their needs in more constructive ways,
which helps labor gain support from the public, and thus politicians.
Now that we understand the basic methods used by labor unions,
let's get back to the eight-hour day movement.
Throughout the 1870s, regional unions went on strike for eight hour work days. They experienced
some success in New York and other big cities, giving the movement momentum. Despite these gains,
there was still no national legislation limiting all workers to an eight-hour day.
I 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions made a national eight-hour work
day their central demand. Two years later, they called for a national strike across industries
with the goal of shutting down the economy. Soon after, workers across the nation went on strike.
In Chicago, almost 80,000 workers went on strike, leading to the Haymarket Square Riot. This riot
resulted in mass violence, death, and arrests, causing public support for labor to decline.
Many of the public began to feel the labor union's attacks on capitalism as too radical, and causing
too much violence. After the Haymarket Riot, a new labor union emerged with a different tactic.
The American Federation of Labor took the eight-hour day movement in a more conservative
direction. The AFL taught workers that they were a productive force and an ally to capitalism,
rather than an oppositional force. They also brought this message to the public.
For example, take a look at this headline. Notice how it claims that an eight-hour workday is better
for consumers. The AFL gained public support for labor by associating worker rights with
consumer rights and better products for the entire society. The AFL still employed the old methods,
such as strikes and collective bargaining, but also focused on appealing to the public to gain
support of specific politicians. As a consequence of this conservative shift, the public rallied
around labor, and political support increased. In his last presidential campaign, Theodore Roosevelt
made the eight-hour workday a central issue, tapping into growing public support for labor
issues. And in the 1930s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed through the New Deal,
improving working conditions in America. The New Deal was a set of laws and regulations that
promoted labor rights, banking and industrial regulations, and social programs for Americans.
It included the Fair Labor Standards Act, which set the maximum work week at 40 hours per week.
This meant the work day was eight hours for almost all workers in America,
and the weekend? Well, it's yours to rest and play. But before you get to the weekend,
or hit your eighth hour, answer the final guiding question. What methods did labor
unions use to impact business practices and labor laws in the United States?
Work in the 19th and early 20th centuries was very different than it is today. For almost a century,
labor unions fought for fewer hours, better pay, and safer conditions.
We enjoy these rights today thanks to this history, but labor issues
still exist. You'll look at these in the PDF, because it's up to you to keep making history.