Thu, 14 May 1998 22:21:46 -0400 (EDT) Thu, 14 May 1998 22:13:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 22:13:52 -0400 (EDT) To: amhoffma@cc.brynmawr.edu From: Art Shostak Subject: Opportunity to Help Set the Record Right IkeGittlen@AOL.com, LABOR-RAP@csf.colorado.edu, rbrand@solfopro.com, ehrensal@kutztown.edu, taup@vm.temple.edu, amhoffma@cc.brynmawr.edu, guyens@AOL.com, morand@postoffice.ptd.net, bwendelgass@cleanwater.org, railway@erols.com, romcf@sol.com, sseyfer@sam.on-net.net, jpatters@on-net.net, jtg@vbe.com, kmrq29a@prodigy.com, jbreed@sam.on-net.net, moreno79@pty.com, romcf@AOL.com, wjd192@AOL.com, local32@accessone.com, mrfst17@pitt.edu, sseyfer@on-net.com, hospworkun@capecod.net, twu1460@tiac.net, kim767@juno.com, meisenscher@igc.apc.org, 71112.555@compuserve.com, pplagan1@nycap.rr.com, puette@uhunix1.its.Hawaii.Edu, ssteele@clark.net, dlivingston@oise.utoronto.ca, jipsonaj@muohio.edu, jquarter@oise.utoronto.ca, sscipe1@icarus.cc.uic.edu, UFCW1776@AOL.com, shniad@sfu.ca, knowware@istar.ca, mark.thompson@commerce.ubc.ca, lkuehn@bctf.bc.ca Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 19:12:55 -0500 Reply-To: irra@relay.doit.wisc.edu Originator: irra@relay.doit.wisc.edu Sender: irra@relay.doit.wisc.edu From: "Ellen Dannin " Subject: query (fwd) Please reply off-list to the requester. She needs responses that are=20 direct and on point. She is not on these lists and is a journalist -- not= =20 a treatise writer: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Suzy Feinberg *********** For a LIFE book called The Millennium, I'm working on a timeline is supposed to compliment a short article (250 words) about the rise of labor unions and the Chartists. A sentence in the last paragraph in the article reads: =93The changes unions have brought--the eight-hour workday, reforms in occupational safety, the minimum wage, child labor laws--have not come without pain violence and dissent. My assignment: A labor union timeline, including key dates for eight-hour workday, minimum wage, child labor, etc. My dilemma: Were labor unions really responsible for these events (8-hour day, min. wage, child labor, etc.)? I'm not convinced they necessarily were in some cases, but I would like to know what role they played in pivotal moments in labor history. My other dilemma has been identifying the pivotal moments in labor history. If anyone can help me identify landmark legislation or events in international labor history, I=92d greatly appreciate it. Below, is the very rough draft of the timeline. Any comments, corrections, or advice is welcome. Susan Feinberg LIFE/reporter 212-522-6417 email: sfine@inch.com fax: 212-522-0379 Timeline: Key moments in Int'l labor history 1833 (CHILD LABOR) British Parliament passed the Factory Act of 1833, the first meaningful child labor legislation in the industrial world. The act of 1833=20 prohibited the employment of children under 9 years old in certain textile mills, and required that children under 13 attend school and work no more than 48 hours a week. (source: Child Labor and The Industrial Revolution, p104-108) Questions: Do you agree that this is the first meaningful legislation on Child Labor in the world? Does the information seem correct to you, if this is an area of expertise? Do you know the first country to abolish child labor entirely? If so, do you know when this happened? Does anyone know where I can find a quote from a young factory girl (American), circa 1900-1920 to compliment a photo we=92re running of a young girl in a southern textile factory c. 1909? 1883 (SOCIAL SECURITY) Championed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and Catholic unions, landmark social security legislation was enacted in Germany with the first=20 compulsory sickness insurance law in 1883, followed by a workman=92s compensation act a year later and compulsory old-age and invalidity insurance in 1889.=20 (source: Columbia Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana)-NEED TO CHECK Question: Is it true that the both Bismarck and Catholic unions were responsible for this legislation? 1894 (MINIMUM WAGE and/or Collective Bargaining) New Zealand=92s Progressive party pushed through the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894, which first introduced collective bargaining and the modern concept of minimum wage.=20 Questions: Is this true, was the concept of COLLECTIVE BARGAINING and MINIMUM WAGE first introduced in New Zealand in 1894? Was minimum wage actually introduced in 1894 or by an amendment to the act in 1898? EIGHT-HOUR DAY question: What country first introduced the 8-hour day or what country or STATE first introduced effective legislation on the 8-hour day? HEALTH AND SAFETY Question: What are the key date(s) or instigating events for int'l health and safety legislation? I think that the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire might be a key event leading to H&S legislation in the U.S., but I have no information about other countries. The LABOUR PARTY question:=20 Is the formation of the Labour Party in Great Britain a critical moment in worldwide labor history? CIVIL RIGHTS ACT of 1964 question: Should I include this on timeline? Were there other countries that effectively addressed discrimination in the workplace prior to this Act? OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS??? Arthur B. Shostak, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Department of Psych/Soc/Anthro; Director, Center for Employment Futures, Drexel University, Phila., PA, 19104; 215-895-2466; fax 610-668-2727. email: SHOSTAKA@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu http://httpsrv.ocs.drexel.edu/faculty/shostaka/ "This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson