Congress Enacts the Eight-Hour Day
A national rail strike is narrowly avoided as federal law mandates an eight-hour basis for railroad workers' pay.
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The threat of a general railroad strike which had been hanging like a pall over the country for a month was lifted Saturday night. Three hours after the Senate passed without amendment the Adamson eight-hour day bill, the heads of the four great railroad employees' brotherhoods telegraphed over 600 code messages to their general chairmen in all parts of the country cancelling the strike order. The bill provides that after January 1, 1917, eight hours shall be the basis of reckoning for a day's pay for men engaged in the operation of railroad trains in interstate commerce.
“The threat of a general railroad strike which has been hanging like a pall over the country for a month was lifted.”
This 1916 legislative victory represents a foundational moment for organized labor in Washington, effectively setting the standard for the modern workday. The tension between rail unions and corporate ownership remains a live issue in national labor discourse today.
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