Adamson Act

E126020

The Adamson Act was a landmark 1916 U.S. federal law that established the eight-hour workday for interstate railroad workers, marking a major victory for labor rights during the Progressive Era.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Adamson Act canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law
labor law
appliesTo interstate railroad workers
railroad companies engaged in interstate commerce
belongsTo United States labor history
United States railroad history
cameIntoForce 1916
chamberOfOrigin United States House of Representatives
codifiedIn United States Statutes at Large
country United States of America
surface form: United States
dateEnacted 1916-09-03
enforcedBy United States government
surface form: United States federal government
era Progressive Era
established eight-hour workday for interstate railroad workers
geographicScope interstate commerce in the United States
hasJurisdiction United States of America
surface form: United States
historicalSignificance first federal law to regulate hours of workers in private industry on a nationwide scale
key development in the eight-hour workday movement
major victory for organized labor
influenced later federal labor standards legislation
laborProtection limits standard workday to eight hours for covered workers
requires additional pay for overtime work
legalStatus upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States
legislativeBody United States Congress
motivatedBy threat of a nationwide railroad strike in 1916
namedAfter William C. Adamson
politicalContext enacted under the administration of Woodrow Wilson
presidentAtEnactment Woodrow Wilson
providesFor overtime pay for work beyond eight hours
purpose to prevent a nationwide railroad strike
regulates hours of labor
relatedTo Progressive Era labor reforms
eight-hour day movement
railroad labor disputes
sector railroad industry
signedBy Woodrow Wilson
sponsor William C. Adamson
subject labor rights
railroad labor relations
working hours
testedInCase Wilson v. New (1917)
typeOfRegulation maximum hours law
yearEnacted 1916

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.