Existing comment:
Labor Reform
The labor politics of the Progressive Movement were an important factor in the election of Woodrow Wilson and thus an important aspect of his domestic agenda. Wilson had campaigned on the idea of an eight-hour work day and by 1916 many unions had achieved that goal on their own, often through striking. In 1916, the threat of a nationwide rail workers strike spurred Congress into action, passing the Adamson Act, the first federal law regulating the hours worked by employees of private companies and requiring interstate railroads to establish an eight-hour work day with paid overtime.
Child labor was another issue tackled in Wilson's New Freedom agenda. Horrified by the reports and photographs of children working in factories, mines, and other dangerous occupations, many in the US wished to reform the practice, if not eliminate it altogether. Accordingly, the Keating-Owen Act regulated interstate commerce to prohibit the cross-state sale of goods produced by companies employing children under fourteen.
Other actions taken by Wilson's administration included the Kern-McGillicuddy Act, providing worker's compensation to federal employees; the Railroad Inspection Act, mandating the inspection of trains for worker and passenger safety; and the Newlands Labor Act, creating the Board of Mediation and Conciliation and providing impartial arbitration to striking workers. |