A Democrat And Laborer's Guide To Gratitude And Accomplishment
By Daniel A. Stafford ©
2012
Part 3:
The Forty-hour Work Week, Overtime Pay, Child Labor Laws, and the
Minimum Wage
Millions
of Americans from multiple generations have grown up expecting to
work eight hours per day, get paid at least time-and-a-half for
working more than forty hours in one week, and to have weekends off.
For most of us alive today and in the work force, this is the way
it's always been. Yet this wasn't always the case, not by any means.
The
forty-hour week was fought for by American AND international labor
unions. It was a hard battle, and workers and union members in the
Chicago area were a huge part of it. At one point, 350,000 workers
around the USA were on strike for an eight-hour day, and 70,000 of
them were Chicago-area workers. Some strikers were even killed
by police in the struggle.
[1]
Calls
for an eight-hour day were issued by labor as early as 1836. It
wasn't until 1938 that the Fair
Labor Standards Act was enacted in the United States, although
some employers, notably Ford Motor Company, and the U.S. Federal
government among others, did enact it piecemeal in places around the
country earlier.[1]
It
was a battle fought between Labor and Capital for over a hundred
years, and most certainly not just in the USA. In some ways, it is
still
being fought, although more with laws, elections, policy tactics, and
other methods rather than large-scale strikes and use of weapons.
Again,
it was Democrats who got the bill passed under Roosevelt, and
Roosevelt was a big part of it, with Labor a driving force in helping
shape the final bill. The Act remains in effect in a modified form,
and it has been one of the biggest blessings American workers have
ever known.[2]
Child
labor laws banning or strictly regulating work rules for children
under sixteen years of age ere also a large part of the Act. Before
the act, children often worked in all sorts of jobs and through all
kinds of hours and under some really dangerous conditions. Many were
also injured on the job. [2] [3]
The
Minimum Wage was also established – and is still regulated by –
the Fair Labor Standards Act. [3] Prior to the Act, an employer could
pay whatever they could get laborers to agree to in most cases,
regardless of how financially desperate those workers might be.
The
bill passed the House by a vote of 291 to 89, and without a record of
the vote in the Senate. [3]
I am
very grateful for the workers and Democrats who got this bill passed
and gave us the wage and hour protections we know today!
References:
Thank
you for reading,
Democratic Precinct Committeeman
York Township precinct 112
DuPage county, IL
http://york112dem.blogspot.com
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