The Adamson Act was a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

passed in 1916 that established an eight-hour workday, with additional pay for overtime work, for interstate

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

workers.

History

The terms that were embodied in the act were negotiated by a committee of the four railroad labor brotherhoods of

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

, firemen, brakemen and conductors, chaired by Austin B. Garretson. Garretson was the respected leader of the conductors' union. He had formerly been a member of the President's Commission on Industrial Relations, investigating the causes of industrial violence. Congress passed the Act in order to avoid a nationwide strike. Named for Georgia representative William C. Adamson, this was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

upheld the

constitutionality In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

of the Act in 1917. When the railroads refused to abide by the law while their court challenge to its constitutionality was pending, the railway unions began preparing again to strike. The Supreme Court's decision brought the employers around, however, and they entered into settlement discussions concerning implementation of the law. The unions' success spurred other railway employees not covered by the Act to press similar demands. Their negotiations were leading to a strike when President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, exercising the authority granted by the Army Appropriations Act of 1916, took over operation of the railroads on December 26, 1917.Presidential Proclamation 1419, December 26, 1917, under authority of the Army Appropriation Act, , August 29, 1916. (''See'' United States Railroad Administration.)

Terms

The Act, formerly codified at 45 U.S.C. §§ 65, 66, was repealed in 1996 when it provided: The language of the Adamson Act is now recodified, with only minor changes, at 49 U.S.C. §§ 28301, 28302.

References

{{Woodrow Wilson 1916 in American law 64th United States Congress History of labor relations in the United States United States federal labor legislation Presidency of Woodrow Wilson Progressive Era in the United States 1916 in labor relations United States railroad regulation