LABOR REFORMS gggff

This classic Lewis Hine photo, taken in 1920, has become a virtual icon for labor in the industrial age. Photo courtesy of National Archives. Labor reforms began early in the 20th century with a spate of modest State-level legislation. The prevailing philosophy of labor reform is bookended by two Supreme Court decisions, which occurred on three years apart. In the first, Lochner v. New York, the Court held that limits on labor for adult males were unconstitutional. In Muller v. Oregon the Court held that very similar limits on women were acceptable. Ultimately, reform would come in three major topic areas, each of which is covered in some degree here. The first is the general regulation of wages and hours and conditions of work (as in the two Supreme Court cases). The second was in the widespread and successful State movements for workers' compensation programs. And the final area was the much less successful arena of unemployment insurance.

Suggestions for Additional Reading Hugh D. Hindman, Child Labor: An American History, (M.E. Sharpe, 2002) Paul B. Bellamy, A History of Workmen's Compensation, 1998-1915: From Courtroom to Boardroom (Garland Publishing, 1997) Daniel Nelson, Unemployment Insurance: The American Experience 1915-1935, (University of Wisconsin Press, 1969)

Source Documents:   Maternal & Child Labor Reforms Harper's Magazine Article on Child Labor (1873) Article regarding child labor in the U.S. and England. Lochner v. New York (1905) This early Progressive Era Supreme Court decision established as federal law that legislatures could not make laws restricting the hours, wages, or working conditions of employment. Muller v. Oregon (1908)  This breakthrough Supreme Court decision established the principle that labor laws (covering hours, wage-levels, working conditions and similar factors of employment) could be enacted--but only for female workers. Letter Regarding Child Labor (1906) The form letter from the Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs was part of many efforts by club-women to agitate against child labor. Lewis Hine Photographs of Child Labor in America (1908) In the early 1910s, the National Child Labor Committee commissioned photographer Lewis Hine to document the prevalent practice of child labor around the country. His series of disturbing photographs became an important documentation of the widespread tragedy of child labor in the Progressive Era and was one of the factors arousing public opinion in support of the passage of child labor laws. (About Lewis Hine) Chairman of the Democratic Party Recounting the Accomplishments of the Wilson Administration (1920) At the end of the second Wilson administration the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Homer S. Cummings, gave a brief recorded speech in which he listed the central accomplishments of the Democratic Party under Wilson. Among the several labor-related accomplishments he thought merited special mention was the enactment of child labor laws, for which the Party was eager to take credit in 1920. Children's Bureau Poster on Education vs. Child Labor This undated poster from the Children's Bureau holds up the ideal of education for children rather than participation in the labor force.       Workmen's Compensation Commemorative Stamp & First-Day Covers In 1961, on the 50th anniversary of Wisconsin's Workmen's Compensation program, the U. S. Post Office issued a special commemorative stamp celebrating this piece of labor reform history. We have a couple of examples of "first-day covers" issued on that occasion as well as a sheet of the stamps. Table of State Compensation Law Enactment This table, from Barbara Armstrong's pioneering work Insuring the Essentials (1932), shows the status of workers' compensation laws in the U.S. as of that year.       Unemployment Insurance Information Pertaining to New York Unemployment Law (September 1935) Only two states enacted state-level unemployment insurance programs before passage of the Social Security Act of 1935. Wisconsin enacted its program in 1932 and New York in April 1935--with an effective date in March 1936. The passage of the federal Act in August 1935 thus rendered New York's state program moot, as it was soon superseded by a federal-state program under the Social Security Act. Therefore this pre-Social Security system in New York state never took actual effect. Nevertheless it is informative as a precedent for the federal system in that it is an indicator of legislative action underway at the state level on the eve of the creation of the Social Security Act. This booklet, published by the New York state Department of Labor explains in detail the New York program. The Federal-State Program for Unemployment Compensation (November 1936) This is one of the very first public information pamphlets issued by the new Social Security Board shortly after it created its Informational Service. This pamphlet (the fifth issued by the Board) was among the first efforts by the new federal agency to explain the new Unemployment program to the general public. Early Social Security Board Pamphlet on Unemployment Compensation (Feb. 1937) In this early pamphlet the Social Security Board is seeking to explain to the general public the new unemployment compensation program in the Social Security Act of 1935. Because unemployment insurance was a relatively novel innovation in America, even as late as 1937, the Board felt it necessary to issue numerous public information products in an effort to educate the public to an acceptance and appreciation of the new program. Unemployment Compensation: What and Why (March 1937) In March 1937 the Social Security Board issued its first full-length booklet on the new federal unemployment insurance program. This booklet was an attempt to produce a comprehensive rationale for the new program. It included both history of unemployment insurance and the policy arguments for unemployment insurance in general and the new federal program in particular. It also explained in detail how the new program would work. This 57-page document contains a wealth of statistical and historical data on the development of unemployment compensation both here and abroad.