AP PHOTO
WITH LIBERTY AND
LEISURE FOR ALL
The first strike for 10-hour days
occurred in 1791, and it wasn’t
long before workers connected
long hours with seasonal unemployment. In 1827, striking carpenters in Philadelphia argued
that 10-hour days would spread
their work out evenly throughout
the year, and “make a journeyman
of nearly as much value in the
winter as in the summer.”
Employers did not appreciate all
the strikes for more time off. “Before I will employ a 10-hour man
HUFFINGTON
10.13.13
my ships shall rot at the wharves
— my half-finished buildings shall
totally decay,” a New Bedford shipbuilder vowed in 1832, anticipating Ayn Rand’s fictional shrugging
capitalists by more than a century.
Still, laborers enjoyed scattered
success prying shorter hours directly from businesses and favorable policies from the government.
Hours declined steadily.
After the Civil War, workers
started demanding even shorter
eight-hour days, sparking a national movement.
“Out of the death of slavery a
new life at once arose,” Marx wrote
Rep John
Conyers
(D-Mich.)
pushed for
a 35-hour
week in 1979
that was
backed by
the AFL-CIO
to deal with
the economic
downturn at
the time.