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Kelley, FlorenceVoae% in industry

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WOMEN IN INDUSTRYTHE EIGHT HOURS DAY

ANDREST AT NIGHT

UPHELDBY THE

United States Supreme Court

By FLORENCE KELLEYGeneral Secretary, National Consumers' League

Women in Industry, Series No. 13May, 1916


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WOMEN IN INDUSTRYTHE EIGHT HOURS DAY AND REST AT NIGHT

FIVE STATES and the DIMM ibta halaw the ci^ln li- uts !., men in industry, and the;>remc Court of the United heldthem in so doing* by sustaining the validity of the

Statute. These States arc California, Arizona, Colorado. Wash-ington and Wyoming.

ther States have established by law a period of rcatat night. These are Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania.Indiana and Nebraska. The New York law has -eldby the Court of Appeals the court of last resort of theThe United States Supreme Court and the New NCourt of Appeals are known by the American people to bepre-eminently conservative bodies. Yet their decisions mregard to working women are at the present moment far inadvance of the legislation of the States, aside from the ten

^P mentioned above.Prwu those States almost frty in number whose legit*i lags behind the decisions of these two c< urtv tbr

of least resistance is obviously to ad-pt unchanged the Call*statute establishing the eight hours day and theYork law creating a period of rest at ni to p. m. to

6 a. m. For the cases decided favorably have arisen out ofthese particular measures, and States which may henceforthadopt them will know in advance that their new laws willnot be annulled as unconstitutional.

It has expressly decided that even pupil nurses in training in nnjhllithe benefits of the legal eight boors day as prtmdcd by theCalifornia law.

illcr vs. Wilson. S36 U. S. 373; Bosky v* Mr! sngfcHn. SU. S. 385.w York Acts of 1913. Chapter 83. nphcld in ItU IVofOc tnSchwcinlcr Press. 214 N


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ADVANTAGES OF SUCH LAWSDuring 1917 the legislatures of more than thirty States

will be in session. By concerted action it should be pos-sible to obtain in these States fairly uniform protection forwomen and girls who earn their own living.It is almost impossible to overstate the advantages which

are to be expected from the nationwide adoption by law of theeight hours day with rest at night for women and children.

I. Where the working day is short, the workers are lesspredisposed to diseases arising from fatigue. They are cor-respondingly less in danger of being out of work, for sicknessis in turn one of the great causes of unemployment.

2. Accidents have diminished conspicuously whereverworking hours have been reduced.

3. They have better opportunity for continuing their edu-cation out of working hours. Where they do this intelli-gently they become more valuable and are correspondinglyless likely to become victims of unemployment.

4. A short working day established by law tends auto-matically to regularize work. The interest of the employeris to have all hands continuously active, and no one sittingidly waiting for needles, or thread, or materials, or formachines to be repaired. Every effort is bent towards havingwork ready for every hour of every working day in the year.In unregulated industry, on the contrary, there are cruel alter-nations of idleness and overwork.

5. For married women wage-earners it is especially neces-sary to have the working day short and work regular. Forwhen they leave their workplace it is to cook, sew, and cleanat home, sometimes even to care for the sick.


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CAUTION!In States which have Industrial Commissions there is a

tendency to give the Commission discretion to lengthen work-ing hours for seasonal occupations, or in case of breaks inmachinery. This should be vigorously fought The oppositeprovision should be copied from the Oregon law, if any devia-tion from the California statute is permitted. In Oregon theworking day may be reasonably shortened in the more exhanst-ing occupations by the Commission, but in no case lengthenedbeyond ***** hours.

TEXT OF STATUTESTo facilitate the work of promoting women's eight hours

laws, the text of the two statutes follows:California Eight Hours Law

"Section I. No female shall be employed in anymanufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establish-ment, laundry, hotel, public lodging house, apartmenthouse, hospital, place of amusement or restaurant, ortelegraph or telephone establishment or office, or byany express or transportation company in this Statemore than eight hours during any one day or morethan forty-eight hours in one week. The hours ofwork may be so arranged as to permit the employ-ment of females at any time so that they shall notwork more than eight hours during the twenty-fourhours of one day, or forty-eight hours during any oneweek: Provided, however, That the provisions ofthis section in relation to hours of employment shallnot apply to nor affect the harvesting, curing, canningor drying of any variety of perishable fruit or vege-table, nor to graduate nurses in hospitals," (Cali-fornia Acts of 1911 as amended by Chapter 352, Actsof 1913.)

New York Law Providing for Rest at Night"Sec. 93-b. In order to protect the health and

morals of females employed in factories by providingan adequate period of rest at night no woman shall


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be employed or permitted to work in any factory inthis State before six o'clock in the morning or afterten o'clock in the evening of any day." (New YorkConsolidated Laws, Sec. 93-b added by Chapter 83,Acts of 1913.)

It is sometimes argued that in States which shortenwomen's working hours in industry and assure them a fixedperiod of rest at night, employers are at a disadvantage com-pared with their competitors in other States. This fear canbe removed by concerted, simultaneous effort to get theseindispensably necessary measures enacted in the largest pos-sible number of States in 1917.

HAS YOUR STATE THESE LAWS, OR EITHER OFTHEM? ARE YOU CONTENT?

Organizations which undertake to promote suchmeasures usually need information and practical helpin drafting bills with reference to existing laws anddecisions, in wording provisions for posting workinghours, for inspection, prosecutions and penaltiesfor all those items which make labor laws workable.Such information may be had on application to theNational Consumers' League, 289 Fourth Avenue,New York City.


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Bib/,

HAfi 15 1SBNATIONAL CONSUMERS' LEAGUE

GENUAL OFFICES889 FOUITH AVENUE, NEW YORK Ci

Telephone, 2907 Graroeivv

Honorary PresidentMR, JOHN GRAHAM BROOKS

PresidentHON. NEWTON D. BAKER, Secretary of War.

.Cambridge, Mass.

.Washington, D. C.Vice-Presidents

MRS. FREDERICK NATHANJANE ADDAMSMRS. M. R. TRUMBULL _

Miss MYRTA L. JONESMRS. B. C. GUDDEN

R. P. HALLECKMas. SAMUEL S. PELSMiss MAUD YOUNGER

New York City..Chicago, 111Portland, Ore.Cleveland, O.Oshkosh, Wis.Louisville, Ky.

... Philadelphia, Pa..San Francisco, Cal.

TreasurerMR. G. HERMAN KINNICUTT New York City

Recording SecretaryMRS. PERCY JACKSON New York CityGeneral Secretary

MRS. FLORENCE KELLEY New York CityOffice Secretary

Miss SIDNEY COLESTOCK New York CityPublication Secretary

Miss JOSEPHINE GOLDMARK New York CityResearch Secretary

Miss PAULINE GOLDMARK New York CityLabel Secretary

Miss LOUISE CORNELL New York CityHonorary Vice-Presidents

PRESIDENT ARTHUR T. HADLEY Yale UniversityPROFESSOR FRANK W. TAUSSIG Harvard UnivcrPROFESSOR W. J. ASHLEY ..Birmingham, EnglandPROFESSOR E. R. A. SELIGMAN ... Columbia

UniversityPROFESSOR J. W. JENKS New York UniversityPROFESSOR H. C. ADAMS University of MichiganPROFESSOR S. McC. LINDSAY Columbia UniversityPROFESSOR R. T. ELY University of WisconsinPROFESSOR JAMES A. FIELD .University of ChicagoREV. JOHN A. RYAN ... Catholic University of AmericaPRESIDENT MARY E. WOOLLEY Mt. Holyoke CollegeDR. JESSICA B. PEIXOTTO University of California


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