The Hard-Fought Battle for the Eight-Hour Day
A landmark labor bill limiting work hours for women passes the Washington State House amidst intense opposition from industrial interests.
By 78 to 14, the house yesterday passed the bill limiting the hours of employment for women to eight hours. A bitter fight was made against it by the mercantile and manufacturing interests, Representative Elms of Port Townsend declaring that if he voted for it he would be thrown in the bay by his constituents and that the girls in the canneries of his district would be replaced by Japanese workers.
“A bitter fight was made against it by the mercantile and manufacturing interests.”
The rhetoric used to oppose the eight-hour workday—fearing economic collapse or outsourcing—echoes contemporary debates about minimum wage and labor protections. It also highlights the era's xenophobic scapegoating, where the threat of worker replacement was used to stall social progress.
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