View source for Eight-hour day movement

{{Short description|Social movement to regulate the length of the working day}}
{{Redirect|40-hour week}}
{{more footnotes|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Labour|expanded=rights|sp=uk}}

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

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 [[workweek and weekend|work week]] was typically six days, and [[child labour]] was common.<ref name=mayday>{{cite web |last=Chase |first=Eric|title=The Brief Origins of May Day|url=http://www.iww.org/projects/mayday/origins.shtml|publisher=Industrial Workers of the World|access-date=30 September 2009|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002025438/https://www.iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday|archive-date=2 Oct 2019  
}}</ref><ref name=kentlaw>{{cite web|title=The Haymarket Martyrs |url=http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/haymkmon.htm |publisher=The Illinois Labor History Society |access-date=30 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509094426/http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/haymkmon.htm |archive-date=9 May 2008  }}</ref> Since the 19th century, the eight-hour workday has been gradually adopted in various countries and industries, with widespread adoption occurring in the first half of the 20th century.

{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==
===Sixteenth century===
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 ''[[:es:Ordenanzas de Felipe II|Ordenanzas de Felipe II]]'', or Ordinances of Philip II. This established:

{{Text and translation
| Título sexto. De las fábricas y fortificaciones.

Ley VI Que los obreros trabajen 8 horas al día repartidas como convenga.

Todos los obreros trabajaran ocho horas al día, cuatro á la mañana, y cuatro á la tarde en fortificaciones y fábricas, que se hicieren, repartidas á los tiempos más convenientes para librarse del rigor del sol, más o menos lo que á los ingenieros pareciere, de forma que no faltando un punto de lo posible, también se atienda à procurar su salud y conservación.

| Sixth title. From factories and fortifications.

Law VI That the workers work eight hours a day distributed as appropriate.

All the workers will work eight hours a day, four in the morning, and four in the afternoon in fortifications and factories, which [The hours] are to be made, distributed at the most convenient times to get rid of the rigor of the sun, [and] more or less what seems to [be right to] the engineers, so that not missing a point of the possible [work], it is also attended to ensure their health and conservation.

| Recopilación de leyes de los reinos de las indias. Mandadas a Imprimir y Publicar por la majestad católica del rey Don Carlos II, nuestro señor. Libro Tercero.<ref>{{cite book |last= Boix Blay |first= Ignacio |year= 1841 |orig-year= 1573 |editor= Ignacio Boix Blay |title= Recopilación de leyes de los reinos de las indias. Mandadas a Imprimir y Publicar por la majestad católica del rey Don Carlos II, nuestro señor. Libro Tercero |trans-title= Compilation of laws of the kingdoms of the Indians. Sent to Print and Publish by the Catholic Majesty of King Carlos II, our Lord. Third Book. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=428DAAAAQAAJ |format= Google Books |language= es |location= Madrid |access-date= 22 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|page=37}}
}}

An exception was applied to mine workers, whose work day was limited to seven hours. These working conditions were also applied to natives in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish America]], who also kept their own legislation organised in "Indian republics" where they elected their own mayors.<ref name="ABC">{{Cite web |last=Cervera |first=César |date=8 May 2019 |title=La jornada de ocho horas: ¿un invento "sindicalista" del Rey Felipe II? |trans-title=The eight-hour day: a "unionist" invention of King Philip II? |url=https://www.abc.es/historia/abci-jornada-ocho-horas-invento-sindicalista-felipe-201905080106_noticia.html |access-date=22 October 2020 |website=www.abc.es |publisher=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC]] |language=es}}</ref>

===Industrial Revolution===
In the early 19th century, [[Robert Owen]] raised the demand for a ten-hour day in 1810, and instituted it in his "socialist" enterprise at [[New Lanark]]. By 1817, he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labour, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest". Women and children in England were granted the ten-hour day via the [[Factories Act 1847]]. French workers won the twelve-hour day after the [[February Revolution of 1848]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Karl |last=Marx |title=Capital: The process of capitalist production |year=1915 |page=328 |others=Translated by [[Samuel Moore (translator of Das Kapital)|Samuel Moore]], Edward Bibbins Aveling, and Ernest Untermann |publisher=C. H. Kerr}}</ref>

A shorter working day and improved working conditions were part of the general protests and agitation for [[Chartism|Chartist]] reforms and the early organisation of trade unions. There were initial successes in achieving an eight-hour day in New Zealand and by the [[Australian labour movement]] for skilled workers in the 1840s and 1850s, though most employed people had to wait to the early and mid twentieth century for the condition to be widely achieved through the industrialised world through legislative action.

The [[International Workingmen's Association]] took up the demand for an eight-hour day at its [[Geneva Congress (1866)|Congress]] in [[Geneva]] in 1866, declaring "The legal limitation of the working day is a preliminary condition without which all further attempts at improvements and emancipation of the working class must prove abortive", and "The Congress proposes eight hours as the legal limit of the working day." [[Karl Marx]] saw it as of vital importance to the workers' health, writing in ''[[Das Kapital]]'' (1867): "By extending the working day, therefore, capitalist production...not only produces a deterioration of human labour power by robbing it of its normal moral and physical conditions of development and activity, but also produces the premature exhaustion and death of this [[labour power]] itself."<ref>{{cite book |first=Karl |last=Marx |title=Das Kapital |year=1867 |page=376 |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch10.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/OPE/archive/0604/att-0138/01-PoliticalEconOfTheDead.pdf |first=Mark |last=Neocleous |title=The Political Economy of the Dead: Marx's Vampires |publisher=Brunel University |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412205331/http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/OPE/archive/0604/att-0138/01-PoliticalEconOfTheDead.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== World War I and Labour Reforms ===
Prior to [[World War I]], efforts to reduce working hours, particularly to establish an 8-hour workday, progressed slowly and unevenly across various nations. With the onset of the war in 1914, belligerent countries suspended restrictions on working hours in industries critical to the war effort, prioritizing production over labor standards. However, the intense demand for munitions revealed that extending working hours did not yield proportional increases in output. Conversely, shorter working hours were found to enhance worker efficiency stemming from the improved health of the worker and his increased production capacity for invested efforts.<ref name="EB1922">{{cite EB1922 |wstitle= Hours of Labour |volume = 31 |last= |first= |author-link= |short= 1}}</ref>

In 1915 [[Uruguay]] became a pioneer in labor legislation by adopting the 8-hour workday, formalized by (law) Ley N° 5.350 <ref>{{Cite web |date=July 1929 |title=Labour Legislation of Uruguay |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-09095_00_00-002-0631-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-09095_00_00-002-0631-0000.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=14 June 2025 |format=PDF}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-27 |title=URUGUAY: Eight-Hour Day for Rural Workers |url=https://www.globalissues.org/news/2009/07/27/2305 |access-date=2025-06-14 |website=www.globalissues.org |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Another consequence of the World War I, the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917, significantly influenced global labor policies. The [[Bolsheviks]]’ radical rhetoric and labor reforms, including the 8-hour workday, inspired socialist and communist movements worldwide. In 1918–1919, revolutions erupted in Germany, Hungary, and Finland, while strikes and labor unrest surged in Britain, France, and the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carr |first=Edward Hallett |title=The Russian revolution: from Lenin to Stalin ; (1917 - 1929) |date=1979 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-23342-9 |location=London}}</ref> Western leaders, employers, and trade unionists feared that without addressing workers’ grievances, a “global proletarian revolution” could destabilize capitalist democracies.

Thus, better understanding of labour efficiency, fear of revolutionary movements and liberal aspirations of the nations drove efforts to improve working conditions. International cooperation in this direction resulted in the Versailles Treaty’s labor provisions, signed in 1919, which included creation of the International Labour Office, later renamed to the [[International Labour Organization]] (ILO).

The eight-hour day was the first topic discussed by the International Labour Organization which resulted in the [[Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919]] ratified by 52 countries as of 2016. The eight-hour day movement forms part of the early history for the celebration of [[International Workers' Day|May Day]], and Labour Day in some countries.

==Asia==
===India===
{{See also|Labour in India|}}
[[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 education|vocational training]] since 1921, maternity benefits since 1928, [[profit sharing]] bonuses since 1934, and retiring gratuity since 1937.<ref> Kling, Blair B. (1998). "Paternalism in Indian Labor: The Tata Iron and Steel Company of Jamshedpur". ''International Labor and Working-Class History''. 53 (53): 69–87. {{doi|10.1017/S0147547900013673}}. {{ISSN|0147-5479}}. {{JSTOR|27672457}}. {{S2CID|144626670}}</ref>

===Iran===
{{See also|Iranian labor law|}}
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, reorganised their union under leadership of Russian-educated Seyed Mohammad Dehgan, a newspaper editor and an avowed [[Communism|Communist]]. In 1918, the newly organised union staged a 14-day [[Strike action|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 organise. 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 [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province|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 labour law for Iran, which recognized the eight-hour day.

===Israel===
{{See also|Israeli labor law}}{{Expand section|What happened in actual Israel?|date=January 2023}}
[[Theodor Herzl]]'s ''[[The Jewish State]]'' proposed a 7-hour day for the Jewish Company that would implement the initial stages of the [[Jewish homeland]].<ref name="Herzl">{{cite book |last1=Herzl |first1=Theodor |title=The Jewish State |date=1988 |publisher=Dover Publications, Inc. |location=New York |pages=104–105 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25282/25282-h/25282-h.htm#Page_104 |access-date=16 January 2023 |language=en |chapter=The Seven-Hour Day}}</ref>

===Japan===
{{See also|Japanese labour law|Labor history of Japan|}}
The first company to introduce an eight-hour working day in [[Japan]] was the Kawasaki Dockyards (now the [[Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation]]) in [[Kobe]]. An eight-hour day was one of the demands presented by the workers during pay negotiations in September 1919. After the company resisted the demands, a [[slowdown]] campaign was commenced by the workers on 18 September. After ten days of industrial action, company president [[Kōjirō Matsukata]] agreed to the eight-hour day and wage increases on 27 September, which became effective from October. The effects of the action were felt nationwide and inspired further industrial action at the Kawasaki and [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi]] shipyards in 1921.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/information/institution/institution/library/furusato/8jikan_roudou.html |title=8時間労働発祥の地神戸 |trans-title=Kobe: Birthplace of the Eight-Hour Day |language=ja |date=6 April 2011 |publisher=City of Kobe |access-date=23 March 2017 |archive-date=28 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228034602/http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/information/institution/institution/library/furusato/8jikan_roudou.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The eight-hour day did not become law in Japan until the passing of the [[Labor Standards Act of 1947|Labour Standards Act]] in April 1947. Article 32 (1) of the Act specifies a 40-hour week and paragraph (2) specifies an eight-hour day, excluding rest periods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail_main?re=01&ia=03&vm=&id=2236 |title=Labor Standards Act |publisher=[[Ministry of Justice (Japan)]] |date=11 December 2012 |access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>

===Indonesia===
{{See also|Indonesian labor law}}
In [[Indonesia]], the first policy regarding working time regulated in Law No. 13 of 2003 about employment. In the law, it stated that a worker should work for seven hours a day for six days a week or eight hours a day for five days a week, excluding rest periods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dpr.go.id/dokjdih/document/uu/196.pdf|title=Undang – Republik Indonesia Nomot 13 Tahun 2003 Tentang Ketengakerjaan  }}</ref>

===China===
{{See also|Chinese labour law|}}
In [[China]], the first company to introduce the eight-hour working day was the Baocheng Cotton Mill in the port city of [[Tianjin]] ({{Lang-zh|link=no|t=天津市寶成紗廠}}). Its manager Wu Jingyi ({{Lang-zh|link=no|t=吳鏡儀}}) announced on 16 February 1930 through ''[[Ta Kung Pao]]'' that his factory is starting the new 8-hour work schedule immediately. The workers were elated. The union representative Liu Dongjiang ({{Lang-zh|link=no|t=劉東江}}) stated "Under the spirit of cooperation, labourers and factory owners work together to advance the business, and in turn to contribute to our nation's development." A celebration was held on the same day in the courtyard of the factory.

The new schedule was called "3–8 schedule". The first shift worked 6&nbsp;am – 2 pm; the 2nd shift 2&nbsp;pm – 10 pm; the 3rd shift 10&nbsp;pm – 6 am. Manager Wu Jingyi reasoned: "All of the factories now have a 12-hour work schedule. Workers are all exhausted and do not have time to take care of their families. In case of workers getting sick, the business also suffers. Therefore we decided to start trying the eight-hour working day".

The [[Beiyang government]] in [[Beijing]] had issued a decree "Provisional Regulations for factories" as early as in 1923, stating "Child-labourers shall not work more than 8 hours per day and shall have 3 days of rest per week; while adult labourers shall not work more than 10 hours per day and shall have 2 days of rest per week." After the successful [[Northern Expedition]], the new [[Nationalist government|Nanking government]] established the Bureau of Labour in 1928, followed by issuing the "Factory Law" in 1929 to set legal framework for the eight-hour working day. Yet, no business actually implemented this until 1930 by Baocheng Cotton Mill.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://xuebaoskb.cczu.edu.cn/oa/DArticle.aspx?type=view&id=201802012|title=个人择业与社会责任:武进吴氏昆季生平事迹考述-常州大学学报(社会科学版)|website=xuebaoskb.cczu.edu.cn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2004-12-11/22195192905.shtml |title=纱厂工人先受益 一天只干八小时 |publisher=记者 孙薇/城市快报}}</ref>

== Central America ==

=== Guatemala ===
In [[Guatemala]], the 8-hour workday was first established in 1947, during the [[Guatemalan Revolution]], when Congress passed an act to add a Labor Code to the [[Constitution of Guatemala]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Labor Rights in Guatemala |url=https://www.ghrc-usa.org/Publications/factsheet_LaborRights.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211040809/https://www.ghrc-usa.org/Publications/factsheet_LaborRights.pdf |archive-date=2024-12-11 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=ghrc-usa.org}}</ref> It included Article 116, which mandated an 8-hour workday and 48-hour work week. However, some workers--including [[plantation]] workers and [[Domestic worker|domestic workers]]--were exempted from the requirements in Article 116 and were still required to work long hours.

Additional labor protections and restrictions on working hours were added to the Constitution later, notably in 1985 and 1993. {{As of|2025|April}}, the standard workday in Guatemala is 8 hours per day, and anything beyond that is legally considered overtime (with mandated overtime pay at a rate of at least 125% of the regular rate).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Decent Work Check - Guatemala - 2025 |url=https://wageindicator.org/documents/decentworkcheck/latinamerica/guatemala-english.pdf |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=wageindicator.org }}</ref> A person can work a maximum of 12 hours per day, including regular hours and overtime, and the maximum hours worked per week is 44 (or lower, if at least some of those working hours take place at night).<ref name=":1" /> Domestic workers are still exempt from the normal working hour requirements, and it is common for them to work 12 to 14 hours per day, six-and-a-half days per week.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-01 |title=Historic Breakthrough in Guatemala! |url=https://idwfed.org/news/latin-america-news/historic-breakthrough-in-guatemala/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402065727/https://idwfed.org/news/latin-america-news/historic-breakthrough-in-guatemala/ |archive-date=2025-04-02 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=idwfed.org}}</ref>

In practice, many Guatemalans work longer hours than are currently allowed for their type of work.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2009-07-17 |title=Study of labor laws and obstacles to compliance in Guatemala |url=https://laborrights.org/publications/study-labor-laws-and-obstacles-compliance-guatemala |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113044257/https://laborrights.org/publications/study-labor-laws-and-obstacles-compliance-guatemala |archive-date=2024-11-13 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum |language=en}}</ref> Enforcement of regulations around working hours is limited, especially in the agricultural sector, where many work beyond the legal limits and are paid less than the legal minimum wage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abbott |first=Jeff |date=2024-05-07 |title=Labor in Guatemala Sees a Glimmer of Hope |url=https://progressive.org/latest/labor-in-guatemala-sees-a-glimmer-of-hope-abbott-20240507/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129000949/https://progressive.org/latest/labor-in-guatemala-sees-a-glimmer-of-hope-abbott-20240507/ |archive-date=2025-01-29 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Progressive.org |language=en-us}}</ref> Additionally, workers of all types sometimes choose to work more than the maximum number of hours per week because their wages are too low for them to provide for themselves and their families without working additional hours, or because there are no jobs available that will provide work within legal limits.<ref name=":2" />

== Europe ==
[[File:Demonstratie ter verkrijging der achturige werkdag Weeknummer, 24-27 - Open Beelden - 13260.ogv|thumb|Demonstration in the Netherlands for the eight-hour day, 1924]]

===Belgium===
{{See also|Economy of Belgium}}
The eight-hour work day was introduced in [[Belgium]] on 9 September 1924.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wirtz |first=W. Willard |author-link=W. Willard Wirtz |url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/bls/bls_1497_1965.pdf |title=Labor Digests on Countries in Europe |year=1965 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305012007/https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/bls/bls_1497_1965.pdf |archive-format=PDF |archive-date=2025-03-05 |url-status=live}}</ref> There are strict limits on overtime in Belgium,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Working time and rest periods {{!}} Federal Public Service Employment - Labour and Social Dialogue |url=https://employment.belgium.be/en/themes/international/posting/working-conditions-be-respected-case-posting-belgium/working-time-and |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124190615/https://employment.belgium.be/en/themes/international/posting/working-conditions-be-respected-case-posting-belgium/working-time-and |archive-date=2025-01-24 |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=employment.belgium.be}}</ref> and few jobs are exceptions to the limit of 40 hours per week.

===Denmark===
{{See also|Economy of Denmark}}
The eight-hour work day was introduced by law in [[Denmark]] on 17 May 1919, after a year-long campaign by workers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://arbejderen.dk/artikel/2006-05-17/17-maj-1919-otte-timers-arbejdsdag |title=17. Maj 1919 – Otte timers arbejdsdag &#124; Arbejderen |access-date=11 July 2020 |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711092516/https://arbejderen.dk/artikel/2006-05-17/17-maj-1919-otte-timers-arbejdsdag |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Czechoslovakia ===
{{See also|Economy of communist Czechoslovakia}}
As a result of large-scale demonstrations and strikes in the late 19th and early 20th century, the former [[Czechoslovakia]] (now [[Czech Republic|Czechia]] and [[Slovakia]]) introduced the eight-hour workday on {{Date|19.12.1918}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-18 |title=Osmihodinovou pracovní dobu přijalo Československo před sto lety |url=https://cesky.radio.cz/osmihodinovou-pracovni-dobu-prijalo-ceskoslovensko-pred-sto-lety-8143201 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=Radio Prague International |language=cs}}</ref>

===Finland===
{{See also|Finnish Civil War|Economic history of Finland}}
The eight-hour work day was established in [[Finland]] in 1917 as a result of the November general strike. According to the law accepted in late 1917, maximum work day was 8 hours and maximum work week 47 hours. Five-day work week was established gradually between 1966 and 1970.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://demokraatti.fi/tyovaenliike-taisteli-kahdeksan-tunnin-tyopaivan-historiallisesta-paatoksesta-100-vuotta|title=Työväenliike taisteli kahdeksan tunnin työpäivän – historiallisesta päätöksestä 100 vuotta |last=Yrjä |first=Ilkka |publisher=Kustannus Oy Demokraatti |date=November 14, 2017 |website=Demokraatti |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref> A worker receives 150% payment from the first two extra hours, and 200% salary if the work day exceeds 10 hours.

===France===
{{See also|French labour law|Economic history of France}}
The eight-hour day was enacted in [[France]] by [[Georges Clemenceau]], as a way to avoid unemployment and diminish communist support. It was succeeded by a strong French support of it during the writing of the [[International Labour Organization Convention 87|International Labour Organization Convention]] of 1919.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://travailemploi.revues.org/4567/ |title=La loi des huit heures : Un projet d'Europe sociale ? (1918–1932) |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002010/http://travailemploi.revues.org/4567 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Germany===
{{See also|German labour law|Labor history of Germany}}
The first German company to introduce the eight-hour day was [[Degussa]] in 1884. The eight-hour day for industrial workers was signed into law during the [[German Revolution]] of 1918 by the new [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic]] government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=documentArchiv.de – Anordnung über die Regelung der Arbeitszeit gewerblicher Arbeiter (23.11.1918) |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/wr/1918/arbeitszeit-arbeiter_ao.html |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.documentarchiv.de}}</ref> The eight-hour day was a concession to the [[Soviet (council)|workers' and soldiers' soviets]], and was unpopular among industrialists. A 12-hour day was reintroduced by a right-wing government during the [[occupation of the Ruhr]] and subsequent [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|hyperinflation crisis]] in 1923. The [[Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs|Labour Ministry]] eventually shortened wages in the late 1920s.<ref>{{Citation|last=Weitz|first=Eric D.|title=Weimar Germany and the Dilemmas of Liberty|date=2007-09-01|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203837443|work=The Routledge History of the Holocaust|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9780203837443.ch5|isbn=978-0-203-83744-3|access-date=2021-11-05|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Hungary===
{{See also|Economy of Hungary}}[[File:Eight hour campaign in Denmark 1912.jpg|thumb|Eight-hour campaign in Denmark, 1912]]
In [[Hungarian Soviet Republic|Hungary]], the eight-hour work day was introduced on 14 April 1919 by decree of the [[Revolutionary Governing Council]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Az ipari munkások munkabérének ideiglenes megállapítása. A Forradalmi Kormányzótanács LXIV. számú rendelete. |journal=A Forradalmi Kormányzótanács és a népbiztosságok rendeletei [Decrees of the Revolutionary Governing Council and the people's commissariats]|date=1919 |volume=2 |pages=32–33 |trans-title=Temporary determination of the industrial workers' wages. Decree No. 64 of the Revolutionary Governing Council. |publisher=Szocialista-Kommunista Munkások Magyarországi Pártja |language=hu}}</ref>

===Italy===
{{See also|Italian Labour Union (1918–1925)|Economic history of Italy}}
The eight-hour work day became legal in [[Italy]] on 17 April 1925 after a law passed 15 March 1923<ref>Article 1, paragraph 1 of Royal Decree of March 15, 1923 n. 692</ref> that authorised the king to set a limit on daily work hours, and a royal decree issued on 10 September 1923. The law set a maximum limit of work at eight hours per day, albeit for six days a week for a 48-hour work week.<ref>Article 5, paragraph 1 of Royal Decree of March 15, 1923 n. 692</ref> On 13 January 1938, the length of the work week was reduced to 40 hours.

===Norway===
{{See also|Economy of Norway}}
The Factory Act of 1915 introduced a 10-hour workday in [[Norway]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rasmussen |first=Magnus Bergli |date=2023 |title=The Politics of Time: The Political Origins of Working-Time Regulation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-science-history/article/abs/politics-of-time-the-political-origins-of-workingtime-regulation/85DE221691FE79B3EB1DDAA9D80CA8DA |journal=Social Science History |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=65–91 |language=en |doi=10.1017/ssh.2023.18 |s2cid=261447033 |issn=0145-5532|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Currently the standard workday according to the law is 9 hours long, but the standard work week is limited to 40 hours, so people commonly work 8 hours per day, 5 days per week.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Working conditions & Working hours in Norway |url=https://leglobal.law/countries/norway/employment-law/employment-law-overview-norway/03-working-conditions-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114121512/https://leglobal.law/countries/norway/employment-law/employment-law-overview-norway/03-working-conditions-2/ |archive-date=2025-01-14 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=L&E Global |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Poland===
{{See also|Polish labour law|Economic history of Poland}}
In [[Poland]], the eight-hour day was introduced 23 November 1918 by decree of the cabinet of the Prime Minister [[Jędrzej Moraczewski]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Dekret_o_8-mio_godzinnym_dniu_pracy|title=Dekret o 8-mio godzinnym dniu pracy – Wikiźródła, wolna biblioteka|website=pl.wikisource.org}}</ref>

===Portugal===
{{See also|Economic history of Portugal}}
In [[Portugal]], during the [[First Portuguese Republic]], a vast wave of strikes occurred in 1919, supported by the [[National Workers' Union (Portugal)|National Workers' Union]], the biggest labour union organisation at the time. The workers achieved important objectives, including the historic victory of an eight-hour work day.

=== Soviet Union ===
{{See also|Soviet working class|Economy of the Soviet Union}}
In the [[Soviet Union]], the eight-hour day was introduced four days after the [[October Revolution]], by a [[Soviet Decree|Decree]] of the [[Council of People's Commissars|Soviet government]] in 1917.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/revolution/documents/1917/10/29.htm|title=Decree on the Hours of Labor|website=www.marxists.org}}</ref> It was further reduced to seven-hour day in 1928,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%A1%D0%9D%D0%9A_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_%D0%BE%D1%82_17_%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8F_1928_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0_%C2%AB%D0%9E_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%B2%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_7-%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%8F%C2%BB|title=Постановление СНК СССР от 17 января 1928 года «О подготовке введения 7-часового рабочего дня» – Викитека|website=ru.wikisource.org}}</ref> increased till seven-hour and eight-hour day during 1940–1956 (during the [[World War II]] and the following phase of recovery),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7_%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B0_%D0%92%D0%A1_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_%D0%BE%D1%82_26.06.1940_%D0%BE_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C,_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%8E_%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%87%D1%83%D1%8E_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8E_%E2%80%A6/%D0%98%D1%81%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F|title=Указ Президиума ВС СССР от 26.06.1940 о переходе на восьмичасовой рабочий день, на семидневную рабочую неделю .../Исходная редакция – Викитека|website=ru.wikisource.org}}</ref> and eventually settled into a standard 40-hour workweek by 1991.

===Spain===
{{See also|Labor movement in Spain|Economic history of Spain}}
In the region of [[Alcoy, Spain|Alcoy]], a workers' strike in 1873 for the eight-hour day followed much agitation from the [[Anarchism in Spain|anarchists]]. In 1919 in [[Barcelona]], after a [[La Canadenca strike|44-day general strike]] with over 100,000 participants had effectively crippled the [[Catalonia|Catalan]] economy, the Government settled the strike by granting the striking workers' demands that included an eight-hour day, union recognition, and the rehiring of fired workers. Therefore, [[Spain]] became on 3 April 1919 the first country in the world to introduce a universal law effective on all type of works, restricting the workday to a maximum of eight hours: "Real decreto de 3 de abril de 1919", signed by the Prime Minister, [[Álvaro de Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones]].

=== Sweden ===
{{See also|Swedish labour movement|Swedish labour law}}
The average number of work hours per week for manufacturing employees in [[Sweden]] was 64 hours in 1885, 60 hours in 1905, and 55 hours in 1919.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Bengtsson |first1=Erik |last2=Molinder |first2=Jakob |date=2017 |title=The economic effects of the 1920 eight-hour working day reform in Sweden |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03585522.2017.1290673 |journal=Scandinavian Economic History Review |language=en |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=149–168 |doi=10.1080/03585522.2017.1290673 |s2cid=157443808 |issn=0358-5522|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The eight-hour work day was introduced into law in Sweden on 4 August 1919, going into effect on 1 January 1920.<ref name=":0" /> At the time, the work week was 48 hours, since Saturday was a workday. The year before, 1918, the builders' union had pushed through a 51-hour work week.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Åmark|first=Klas|title=Maktkamp i byggbransch : avtalsrörelser och konflikter i byggbranschen 1914–1920|year=1989|isbn=91-7924-048-8|location=Lund}}</ref>

The [[Swedish Social Democratic Party|Social Democratic Party]] was the main driver behind the eight-hour workday.<ref name=":0" /> Once full male [[suffrage]] was implemented in Sweden, the parliament passed legislation to introduce an eight-hour workday.<ref name=":0" />

===United Kingdom===
{{See also|United Kingdom labour law|Labour movement of the United Kingdom}}[[File:The Modern Bed of Procustes - Punch cartoon - Project Gutenberg eText 13961.png|thumb|'''The Modern Bed of Procrustes'''<br />''[[Procrustes]]''. "Now then, you fellows; I mean to fit you all to my little bed!"<br />''Chorus''. "Oh lor-r!!"<br />"It is impossible to establish universal uniformity of hours without inflicting very serious injury to workers."&nbsp;– Motion at the recent Trades' Congress.<br />Cartoon from ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', Vol 101, 19 September 1891]]

The [[Factory Act 1833]] limited the work day for children in factories. Those aged 9–13 could work only eight hours, and those aged 14–18 twelve hours. Children under 9 were required to attend school.

In 1884, [[Tom Mann]] joined the [[Social Democratic Federation]] (SDF) and published a pamphlet calling for the working day to be limited to eight hours. Mann formed an organisation, the Eight Hour League, which successfully pressured the [[Trades Union Congress]] to adopt the eight-hour day as a key goal. The British [[Fabian Society|Fabian socialist]] economist [[Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield|Sidney Webb]] and the scholar [[Harold Cox]] co-wrote a book supporting the "Eight Hours Movement" in Britain.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sidney Webb |title=The eight hours day |publisher=Open Library |ol=25072899M }}</ref>

The first group of Workers to achieve the 8-hour day were the [[Beckton]], [[East London]] Gas workers after the strike under the leadership of [[Will Thorne]], a member of the Social Democratic Federation. The strike action was initiated on 31 March 1889 after the introduction of compulsory 18-hour shifts, up from the previous 12 hours. Under the slogan of "shorten our hours to prolong our lives" the strike spread to other gas works. He petitioned the bosses and after a strike of some weeks, the bosses capitulated and three shifts of eight hours replaced two shifts of 12 hours. Will Thorne founded the [[National Union of General Workers (UK)|Gas Workers and General Labourers Union]], which evolved into the modern [[GMB (trade union)|GMB]] union.

Working hours in the UK are currently not limited by day, but by week, as first set by the [[Working Time Regulations 1998]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/regulation/4/made|title=The Working Time Regulations 1998}}</ref> which introduced a limit of 40 hours per week for workers under 18, and 48 hours per week for over 18s. This was in line with the European Commission Working Time Directive of 1993. UK regulations now follow the [[Working Time Directive 2003|EC Working Time Directive of 2003]], but workers can voluntarily opt out<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours/weekly-maximum-working-hours-and-opting-out|title=Maximum weekly working hours|website=GOV.UK}}</ref> of the 48 hour limit. A general eight hour limit to the working day has never been achieved in the UK. By the end of the 20th century, many people considered themselves to be "money-rich, time-poor".{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==North America==

===Canada===
{{See also|Canadian labour law}}
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 [[International Workers' Day|May Day]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The New Canadian Ship Railway|url=https://archive.org/stream/hardwaremerch1890toro#page/n43/mode/1up|access-date=18 April 2013|newspaper=Hardware|date=10 January 1890}}</ref> In the 1960s, Canada adopted the 40-hour work week.<ref name="EB1922"/>

===Mexico===
{{See also|Mexican labor law|}}

The [[Mexican Revolution]] of 1910–1920 produced the [[Constitution of Mexico|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.

===United States===
{{See also|United States labor law|Labor history of the United States|Labor movement in the United States}}[[file:Journeyman House Carpenters' Association of Philadelphia Promoting ten-hour day 1835.jpg|thumb|Banner from the [[1835 Philadelphia general strike]] promoting the ten-hour workday. In the lower right-hand corner is written the slogan 6 to 6. Also the worker points to the clock which shows six, indicating it is time to stop working.]]
In the [[United States]], [[Philadelphia]] carpenters went on strike in 1791 for the ten-hour day. By the 1830s, this had become a general demand. In 1835, workers in Philadelphia organised the [[1835 Philadelphia general strike]], the first general strike in North America, led by [[History of Irish Americans in Philadelphia|Irish]] coal heavers. Their banners read, ''From 6 to 6, ten hours work and two hours for meals.''<ref>Philip S. Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 1, From Colonial Times to the Founding of The American Federation of Labor'', International Publishers, 1975, pp. 116–118 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Labour movement publications called for an ''eight-hour day'' as early as 1836. [[Boston]] ship carpenters, although not unionized, achieved an eight-hour day in 1842.

In 1864, the eight-hour day quickly became a central demand of the [[Chicago]] labour movement. The [[Illinois General Assembly]] passed a law in early 1867 granting an eight-hour day, but it had so many loopholes that it was largely ineffective. A citywide strike that began on 1 May 1867 shut down the city's economy for a week before collapsing.

In August 1866, the [[National Labor Union]] at [[Baltimore]] passed a resolution that said, "The first and great necessity of the present to free labor of this country from [[Wage slavery|capitalist slavery]], is the passing of a law by which eight hours shall be the normal working day in all States of the American Union. We are resolved to put forth all our strength until this glorious result is achieved."

On 25 June 1868, [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed an eight-hour law for federal employees<ref>{{cite web|url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/94/400/ |title=United States v. Martin – 94 U.S. 400 (1876) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center |publisher=Supreme.justia.com |access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/336/336.US.281.91.html |title=336 U.S. 281 |publisher=Ftp.resource.org |access-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310144500/http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/336/336.US.281.91.html |archive-date=10 March 2012  }}</ref> which was also of limited effectiveness. It established an eight-hour workday for labourers and mechanics employed by the [[Federal government of the United States|Federal Government]]. President [[Andrew Johnson]] had [[List of United States presidential vetoes|vetoed]] the act but it was passed over his veto. Johnson told a [[Workingmen's Party of the United States|Workingmen's Party]] delegation that he could not directly commit himself to an eight-hour day, but nevertheless he told the same delegation that he greatly favored the "shortest number of hours consistent with the interests of all." According to Richard F. Selcer, however, the intentions behind the law were "immediately frustrated" as wages were cut by 20%.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard F. Selcer|title=Civil War America, 1850 To 1875|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqIBqiNoB9wC&pg=PA65|year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=65|isbn=9781438107974}}</ref>

On 19 May 1869, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] issued a Proclamation directing that the wages of federal government "laborers, workmen, and mechanics" paid by the day could not be cut when their workday was reduced to 8 hours under the 1868 law.<ref>{{cite web |last=Grant |first=Ulysses S. |date=May 19, 1869 |title=Proclamation 182 – Eight Hour Work Day for Employees of the Government of the United States |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-182-eight-hour-work-day-for-employees-the-government-the-united-states |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=10 May 2024 |website=The American Presidency Project |publisher=Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley}}</ref>

During the 1870s, eight hours became a central demand, especially among labour organisers, with a network of [[Eight-Hour Leagues]] which held rallies and parades. A hundred thousand [[New York City]] workers [[1872 New York City eight hour day strike|struck for the eight-hour day in 1872]], mostly for [[building trades]] workers. In Chicago, [[Albert Parsons]] became recording secretary of the Chicago Eight-Hour League in 1878, and was appointed a member of a national eight-hour committee in 1880.

At its convention in Chicago in 1884, the [[Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions]] resolved that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labour organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named."

The leadership of the [[Knights of Labor]], under [[Terence V. Powderly]], rejected appeals to join the movement as a whole, but many local Knights assemblies joined the strike call including Chicago, [[Cincinnati]] and [[Milwaukee]]. On 1 May 1886 Albert Parsons, head of the Chicago Knights of Labor, led 80,000 people down [[Michigan Avenue (Chicago)|Michigan Avenue]] in Chicago in what is regarded as the first modern [[May Day|May Day Parade]], with the cry, "Eight-hour day with no cut in pay." In the next few days they were joined nationwide by 350,000 workers who went on strike at 1,200 factories, including 70,000 in Chicago, 45,000 in New York, 32,000 in Cincinnati, and additional thousands in other cities. Some workers gained shorter hours (eight or nine) with no reduction in pay; others accepted pay cuts with the reduction in hours.

The [[American Federation of Labor]], meeting in [[St. Louis]] in December 1888, set 1 May 1890 as the day that American workers should work no more than eight hours. The [[International Workingmen's Association]] ([[Second International (politics)|Second International]]), meeting in [[Paris]] in 1889, endorsed the date for international demonstrations, thus starting the international tradition of [[May Day]].

The [[United Mine Workers]] won an eight-hour day in 1898.

The [[Building Trades Council]] (BTC) of [[San Francisco]], under the leadership of [[P. H. McCarthy]], won the eight-hour day in 1900 when the BTC unilaterally declared that its members would work only eight hours a day for {{Currency|3|USD|linked=no}} a day ({{Inflation|US|3|1900|fmt=eq|r=-1}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}). When the mill resisted, the BTC began organising mill workers; the employers responded by [[Lockout (industry)|locking out]] 8,000 employees throughout the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]]. The BTC, in return, established a union [[planing mill]] from which construction employers could obtain supplies{{snd}}or face boycotts and [[sympathy strike]]s if they did not. The mill owners went to [[Arbitration in the United States#Labor arbitration|arbitration]], where the union won the eight-hour day, a [[closed shop]] for all [[Skilled worker|skilled workers]], and an arbitration panel to resolve future disputes. In return, the union agreed to refuse to work with material produced by non-union planing mills or those that paid less than the Bay Area employers.

By 1905, the eight-hour day was widespread in the printing trades{{snd}}see {{section link|International Typographical Union|Fight for better working conditions}}{{snd}}but the majority of Americans worked 12- to 14-hour days.
[[File:Poster promoting the iww campaign for the eight hour work day 1912.png|thumb|Poster promoting the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW) campaign for the eight-hour workday, 1912]]
In the [[1912 United States presidential election|1912 Presidential Election]] [[Teddy Roosevelt]]'s [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] [[campaign platform]] included the eight-hour work day.

On 5 January 1914 the [[Ford Motor Company]] took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day ({{Inflation|US|5|1914|fmt=eq|r=-1}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) and cutting shifts from nine hours to eight, moves that were not popular with rival companies, although seeing the increase in Ford's productivity, and a significant increase in [[profit margin]] (from $30&nbsp;million to $60&nbsp;million in two years), most soon followed suit.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0105.html#article Ford Gives $10,000,000 To 26,000 Employees"], ''The New York Times'', 5 January 1914, accessed 23 April 2011.</ref><ref>Ford Motor Company [http://corporate.ford.com/about-ford/heritage/milestones/5dollaraday/677-5-dollar-a-day "Henry Ford's $5-a-Day Revolution"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506042412/http://corporate.ford.com/about-ford/heritage/milestones/5dollaraday/677-5-dollar-a-day |date=6 May 2011 }}, ''Ford'', 5 January 1914, accessed 23 April 2011.</ref><ref>Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. [http://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/ford.html "Ford: Doubling the profit from 1914–1916"], ''Hispanic Pundit'', 1996, accessed 24 April 2011.</ref>

In the summer of 1915, amid increased labour demand for [[World War I]], a series of strikes demanding the eight-hour day began in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]]. They were so successful that they spread throughout the [[Northeast United States|Northeast]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Philip Sheldon Foner |title=History of the Labor Movement in the United States: 1915–1916, on the Eve of America's Entrance into World War I, Vol. 6 |year=1982 |publisher=International Publishers Company, Incorporated |page=196 |quote=[A] ten-hour center like Bridgeport was converted overnight into an eight-hour community, a result that ten years of agitation under normal conditions might not have accomplished. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixcYmW_jR8kC&pg=196 |isbn=978-0-7178-0595-2 }}</ref>

The United States [[Adamson Act]] in 1916 established an eight-hour day, with additional pay for [[overtime]], for railroad workers. This was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The [[United States Supreme Court]] upheld the constitutionality of the Act in ''[[Wilson v. New]]'', {{ussc|243|332|1917}}.

The eight-hour day might have been realized for many working people in the US in 1937, when what became the [[Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938|Fair Labor Standards Act]] (29 U.S. Code Chapter 8) was first proposed under the [[New Deal]]. As enacted, the act applied to industries whose combined employment represented about twenty percent of the US labour force. In those industries, it set the maximum workweek at 40 hours,<ref>{{cite web |author=Jonathan Grossman |url=http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/flsa1938.htm |title=Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage |date=June 1978 |access-date=20 July 2010 |publisher=US Department of Labor |work=Monthly Labor Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815194445/http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/flsa1938.htm |archive-date=15 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but provided that employees working beyond 40 hours a week would receive additional overtime bonus salaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://smallbusiness.chron.com/national-fair-labor-standards-act-2953.html |title=National Fair Labor Standards Act |publisher=Chron |access-date=12 November 2013}}</ref>

====Puerto Rico====
{{See also|Economic history of Puerto Rico}}
In [[Puerto Rico]] in May 1899, while under US administration, General [[George W. Davis]] acceded to demands from Puerto Ricans and decreed freedom of assembly, speech, press, religion and an eight-hour day for government employees.

==Australia and New Zealand==
<!-- Yes, Oceania is a real geographical term. It means Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, various surrounding islands and sometimes Indonesia and Malaysia -->

===Australia===
{{See also|Australian labour movement|Economic history of Australia}}
[[File:Melbourne eight hour day march-c1900.jpg|thumb|right|Eight-hour day march circa 1900, outside Parliament House in Spring Street, [[Melbourne]]]]

The [[Australian gold rushes]] attracted many skilled tradesmen to Australia. Some of them had been active in the [[Chartism|Chartist]] movement in Britain, and subsequently became prominent in the campaign for better working conditions in the Australian colonies. Workers began winning an eight-hour day in various companies and industries in the 1850s.

[[File:8hoursday banner 1856.jpg|thumb|Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856]]
The Stonemasons' Society in [[Sydney]] issued an ultimatum to employers on 18 August 1855 saying that after six months masons would work only an eight-hour day. Due to the rapid increase in population caused by the gold rushes, many buildings were being constructed, so skilled labour was scarce. Stonemasons working on the Holy Trinity Church and the Mariners' Church (an evangelical mission to seafarers), decided not to wait and pre-emptively went on strike, thus winning the eight-hour day. They celebrated with a victory dinner on 1 October 1855 which to this day is celebrated as a Labour Day holiday in the state of [[New South Wales]]. When the six-month ultimatum expired in February 1856, stonemasons generally agitated for a reduction of hours. Although opposed by employers, a two-week strike on the construction of Tooth's Brewery on [[Parramatta Road]] proved effective, and stonemasons won an eight-hour day by early March 1856, but with a reduction in wages to match.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cahill|first=Rowan|title=The Eight Hour Day and the Holy Spirit|url=http://workers.labor.net.au/features/200502/b_tradeunion_hours.html|work=Workers Online|publisher=Labor Council of N.S.W.|access-date=1 October 2012}}</ref>
[[File:S.A. Typographical Society Eight Hour Celebration Caroline Carlton The Australia Song.jpg|thumb|S.A. Typographical Society Ephemera Eight Hours Celebration Caroline Carleton The Australia Song September 1st 1893]]
Agitation was also occurring in [[Melbourne]] where the craft unions were more militant. Stonemasons working on [[Melbourne University]] organised to down tools on 21 April 1856 and march to [[Parliament House, Melbourne|Parliament House]] with other members of the building trade. The movement in Melbourne was led by veteran Chartists, and masons [[James Stephens (trade unionist)|James Stephens]], T.W. Vine and [[James Gilvray Galloway|James Galloway]]. The government agreed that workers employed on public works should enjoy an eight-hour day with no loss of pay and stonemasons celebrated with a holiday and procession on Monday 12 May 1856, when about 700 people marched with 19 trades involved. By 1858, the eight-hour day was firmly established in the building industry and by 1860, the eight-hour day was fairly widely worked in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. From 1879, the eight-hour day was a public holiday in Victoria. The initial success in Melbourne led to the decision to organise a movement, to actively spread the eight-hour idea, and secure the condition generally.

In 1903, veteran socialist [[Tom Mann]] spoke to a crowd of a thousand people at the unveiling of the Eight Hour Day monument, funded by public subscription, on the south side of Parliament House on Spring St. It was relocated in 1923 to the corner of Victoria and Russell Streets outside [[Melbourne Trades Hall]].

[[File:Wyalong eight hour day.jpg|thumb|Eight-hour day procession by miners in [[Wyalong, New South Wales]] – late 1890s]]

It took further campaigning and struggles by trade unions to extend the reduction in hours to all workers in Australia. In 1916 the ''Victoria Eight Hours Act'' was passed granting the eight-hour day to all workers in the state. The eight-hour day was not achieved nationally until the 1920s. The Commonwealth Arbitration Court gave approval of the 40-hour five-day working week nationally beginning on 1 January 1948. The achievement of the eight-hour day has been described by historian [[Rowan Cahill]] as "one of the great successes of the Australian working class during the nineteenth century, demonstrating to Australian workers that it was possible to successfully organise, mobilise, agitate, and exercise significant control over working conditions and quality of life. The Australian trade union movement grew out of eight-hour campaigning and the movement that developed to promote the principle."

The intertwined numbers '''888''' soon adorned the [[pediment]] of many union buildings around Australia. The Eight Hour March, which began on 21 April 1856, continued each year until 1951 in Melbourne, when the conservative [[Victorian Trades Hall Council]] decided to forgo the tradition for the [[Moomba Festival|Moomba]] festival on the Labour Day weekend. In capital cities and towns across Australia, Eight Hour day marches became a regular social event each year, with early marches often restricted to those workers who had won an eight-hour day.

===New Zealand===
{{See also|Economic history of New Zealand}}
Promoted by carpenter [[Samuel Duncan Parnell]] as early as 1840, when he refused to work more than eight hours a day when erecting a store for merchant [[George Hunter (mayor)|George Hunter]]. He successfully negotiated this working condition and campaigned for its extension in the infant [[Wellington]] community. A meeting of Wellington carpenters in October 1840 pledged "to maintain the eight-hour working day, and that anyone offending should be ducked into the harbour".

Parnell is reported to have said: "There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want for themselves." With tradesmen in short supply the employer was forced to accept Parnell's terms. Parnell later wrote, "the first strike for eight hours a day the world has ever seen, was settled on the spot".<ref name="DNZB Parnell">{{DNZB|title=Samuel Duncan Parnell|first= Bert |last= Roth |author-link=Bert Roth|id=5r28|access-date=26 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/eight-hour-day-movement | title=Eight-Hour-Day Movement (in New Zealand) | encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]] | year=1966 | access-date=29 January 2017 |url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001203225/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/eight-hour-day-movement/1 |archive-date=1 October 2012 |author=Bert Roth| author-link=Bert Roth }}</ref>

Emigrants to the new settlement of [[Dunedin]], Otago, while on board ship decided on a reduction of working hours. When the resident agent of the [[New Zealand Company]], [[William Cargill (New Zealand politician)|Captain Cargill]], attempted to enforce a ten-hour day in January 1849 in [[Dunedin]], he was unable to overcome the resistance of trades people under the leadership of house painter and plumber, Samuel Shaw.  Building trades in [[Auckland]] achieved the eight-hour day on 1 September 1857 after agitation led by Chartist painter, William Griffin. For many years the eight-hour day was confined to craft tradesmen and unionised workers. [[Labour Day#New Zealand|Labour Day]], which commemorates the introduction of the eight-hour day, became a national public holiday in 1899.

==South America==
{{expand section|date=June 2014}}
A strike for the eight-hour day was held in May 1919 in [[Peru]]. In [[Uruguay]], the eight-hour day was put in place in 1915 of several reforms implemented during the second term of president [[José Batlle y Ordóñez]]. It was introduced in [[History of Chile|Chile]] on 8 September 1924 at the demand of then-general [[Luis Altamirano]] as part of the ''[[Ruido de sables]]'' that culminated in the [[September Junta]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Organized labour}}
* [[996 working hour system]]
* [[Effects of overtime]]
* [[Flextime]]
* [[Four-day workweek]]
* [[Haymarket affair|Haymarket riot]]
* [[Occupational burnout]]
* [[Occupational stress]]
* [[Overwork]]
* [[Reduction of hours of work (disambiguation)|Reduction of hours of work]]
* [[Right to rest and leisure]]
* [[Right to work]]
* [[Six-hour day]]
* [[Work–life interface]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* John Child, ''Unionism and the Labor Movement.'' 1971. {{ISBN?}}
* Bob James, [http://www.takver.com/history/aasv/index.htm ''Anarchism and State Violence in Sydney and Melbourne 1886–1896.''] 1986.
* Habib Ladjevardim, ''Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran'', 1985. {{ISBN?}}
* Andy McInerney, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050328001631/http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2003/04/5397.shtml '' May Day, The Workers' Day, Born in the Struggle for the Eight-hour Day,''] ''Liberation & Marxism,'' no. 27 (Spring 1996).
* Brian McKinley (ed), ''A Documentary History of the Australian Labor Movement 1850–1975.'' 1979. {{ISBN?}}
* William A. Mirola, ''Redeeming Time: Protestantism and Chicago's Eight-Hour Movement, 1866–1912.'' Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2015. {{ISBN?}}
* ''Mayday: A Short History of 100 Years of May Day, 1890–1990'' Melbourne May Day Committee, 1990. {{ISBN?}}
* David R. Roediger & Philip S. Foner ''Our Own Time: A History of American Labor and the Working Day'', Verso Books, New York, 1989. {{ISBN?}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|8 hour day}}
* [http://workers.labor.net.au/features/200502/b_tradeunion_hours.html The Eight Hour Day and the Holy Spirit] by [[Rowan Cahill]]
* [http://unionsong.com/reviews/888/ Eight Hour Day in Australia] Union Songs site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051029232448/http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/coins/1865/eight-hour_day_medal.html Eight hour day medals] from Museum Victoria
* [http://www.8hourday.org.au/ 150th anniversary commemorative website]

===New Zealand===
* [https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/eight-hour-day-movement Eight-hour-day Movement in New Zealand] Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)
* [https://embassy.org.nz/work1/eightday.htm Origins of Labour Day in New Zealand]

===United States===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070523193305/http://www.iww.org/en/culture/articles/zinn13.shtml Early IWW struggles]
* [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/417.html Eight-Hour Movement] Encyclopedia of Chicago
* [https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/oastlers-letter-shocked-england-11630410.html Oastler's Letter Shocked England]

{{Employment}}
{{Organized labor|sp=uk}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eight-Hour Day}}
[[Category:Labor relations]]
[[Category:Labour history of Australia]]
[[Category:Working time]]
[[Category:Labor rights]]
[[Category:Australian inventions]]
[[Category:Public holidays in Australia]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Second International]]