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Eight-hour day

The eight-hour day (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time.

"40-hour week" redirects here. For other uses, see 40-hour week (disambiguation).

The eight-hour work day originated in 16th century Spain,[1] but the modern movement originated in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life. At that time, the working day could range from 10 to 16 hours, the work week was typically six days, and child labour was common.[2][3] In 1593, Spain became the first country to introduce the eight-hour work day by law for factory and fortification workers.[1] In contemporary era, it was established for non-agricultural workers by Uruguay in 1915,[4] and for all professions by Soviet Russia in 1917.[5]

History[edit]

Sixteenth century[edit]

In 1594, Philip II of Spain established an eight-hour work day for the construction workers in the American Viceroyalties by a royal edict known as Ordenanzas de Felipe II, or Ordinances of Philip II. This established:

Asia[edit]

India[edit]

Tata Steel was among the first Indian companies to provide various labour welfare benefits, such as eight-hour workdays since 1912, free medical care since 1915, school facilities for the children of employees since 1917, paid time off since 1920, formation of a provident fund and accident compensation in 1920, vocational training since 1921, maternity benefits since 1928, profit sharing bonuses since 1934, and retiring gratuity since 1937[12]

Iran[edit]

In Iran in 1918, the work of reorganizing the trade unions began in earnest in Tehran during the closure of the Iranian constitutional parliament Majles. The printers' union, established in 1906 by Mohammad Parvaneh as the first trade union, in the Koucheki print shop on Nasserieh Avenue in Tehran, reorganized their union under leadership of Russian-educated Seyed Mohammad Dehgan, a newspaper editor and an avowed Communist. In 1918, the newly organised union staged a 14-day strike and succeeded in reaching a collective agreement with employers to institute the eight-hours day, overtime pay, and medical care. The success of the printers' union encouraged other trades to organize. In 1919 the bakers and textile-shop clerks formed their own trade unions.


However the eight-hour day only became code by a limited governor's decree on 1923 by the governor of Kerman, Sistan and Balochistan, which controlled the working conditions and working hours for workers of carpet workshops in the province. In 1946, the council of ministers issued the first labor law for Iran, which recognized the eight-hour day.

North America[edit]

Canada[edit]

The labour movement in Canada tracked progress in the US and UK. In 1890, the Federation of Labour took up this issue, hoping to organise participation in May Day.[35] In the 1960s, Canada adopted the 40-hour work week.[36]

Mexico[edit]

The Mexican Revolution of 1910—1920 produced the Constitution of 1917, which contained Article 123 that gave workers the right to organise labour unions and to strike. It also provided protection for women and children, the eight-hour day, and a living wage. See Mexican labor law.

996 working hour system

Effects of overtime

Flextime

Four-day workweek

Haymarket riot

Right to rest and leisure

Right to work

Six-hour day

Work–life interface

John Child, Unionism and the Labor Movement. 1971.

Bob James, 1986.

Anarchism and State Violence in Sydney and Melbourne 1886–1896.

Habib Ladjevardim, Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran, 1985.

Andy McInerney, Liberation & Marxism, no. 27 (Spring 1996).

May Day, The Workers' Day, Born in the Struggle for the Eight-hour Day,

Brian McKinley (ed), A Documentary History of the Australian Labor Movement 1850–1975. 1979.

William A. Mirola, Redeeming Time: Protestantism and Chicago's Eight-Hour Movement, 1866–1912. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2015.

Mayday: A Short History of 100 Years of May Day, 1890–1990 Melbourne May Day Committee, 1990.

David R. Roediger & Philip S. Foner Our Own Time: A History of American Labor and the Working Day, Verso Books, New York, 1989.

by Rowan Cahill

The Eight Hour Day and the Holy Spirit

Union Songs site

Eight Hour Day in Australia

from Museum Victoria

Eight hour day medals

150th anniversary commemorative website