The Eight-Hour Demand Amidst Mill Curtailments
As Everett’s lumber industry slows production, the Labor Journal argues that reducing the workday to eight hours is the humane solution to unemployment.
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It is reported that lumber mills will curtail their output for some time by running five days a week. While the condition of the trade may call for this curtailment, it will entail great hardship on many men who are just barely keeping their heads above water while running full time. Would it be too impertinent to suggest that if running time must be curtailed, it would be appreciated by all men if the ten-hour work days were cut to eight hours?
“Would it be too impertinent to suggest that if running time must be curtailed, it would be appreciated by all men if the ten-hour work days were cut to eight hours?”
The push for shorter hours during economic downturns remains a core labor strategy today. Even in 1909, Everett workers were fighting for a 'share the work' philosophy that would preserve jobs rather than see workers lose their livelihoods entirely.
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