A Review of Labor Laws: A History and Prospectus

Internationally, May Day is celebrated on May 1 to honor laborers who do ugly, dirty, and dangerous work that keeps our society afloat. Also known as “International Worker’s Day,” May Day is used to reflect on the progress of labor laws, unionization, and safety practices, as well as take account of the progress still to go in keeping workers safe and ensuring a quality working environment with fair wages.

The celebration of an International Worker’s Day began in 1886 after the infamous Haymarket Affair in Chicago, Illinois. Manual laborers of various ethnic backgrounds and political persuasions were pushing for an 8-hour work day, and on May 1, workers across the US held a strike and rallied in public parks for these regulations. In Chicago, the May 1 rally lead into a May 3 strike that following Monday, and all but two “strikebreakers” participated. At the end of the workday, the police fired on the strikebreakers, and the other striking workers rallied on May 4 to protest the police’s conduct. During that rally, which, though large, was generally peaceful, an unknown person set off a bomb -- and the rally became a riot. Seven police officers and at least four civilians were killed in the process. This, the Haymarket Riot, was the international phenomenon that is generally regarded as the founding of International Worker’s Day.

In modern times, labor laws have seen leaps and bounds from where they once were. Historical retrospectives published on May 1 recounted how unions, strikes, and demonstrations brought about some of the West’s most cherished labor laws, including the hard-won 8-hour work day, sick leave, overtime pay, the 40-hour work week, worker’s compensation insurance, child labor laws, equal pay laws, and minimum-wage laws.

In the past, the most sweeping labor reforms have come in the wake of tragedies including the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, in which nearly 150 young women were killed when a textile factory caught on fire and there were too few ways to safely exit the building. Massive legislative reforms were reactionary in nature, rather than peremptory, often leading them to be too little too late. Perhaps the greatest overhaul was the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which is still in effect to this day with some addendums and clarifying SCOTUS cases. In it, the federal government codified into law the 40-hour work week, the time-and-a-half overtime pay laws, and strict laws governing the circumstances under which minors can work.

Attempts to make workplaces safer passed little by little, but workers across the US won a huge victory with the passage of the 1971 Occupational Safety and Health Act, which created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As it was written, the intent of the law was to offer stricter federal oversight to the safety of workplace conditions and their effect on the health of the workers.

Today, many workers, unions, and politicians are pushing for revisiting the federal minimum wage laws as well as strengthening the laws that are intended to protect women, People of Color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. By the same token, though, today’s workplace looks much much different from workplaces of the past. Among concerns on the labor movement’s horizon is the insurance coverage and union rights of “independent contractors” in the gig economy, such as uber drivers and Airbnb. As candidates gear up for midterm elections, many are calling for the ability of contracted workers in the gig economy to unionize to demand better working conditions and more complete insurance coverage. The FSLA currently offers exemptions to its governance under certain conditions, including those of contracted workers, but contemporary proponents of the labor movements think that such exemptions should no longer apply to peer-to-peer apps.

Cases pertaining to labor laws find their way to the superior courts every single term, and as we reflect on the progress of labor laws in our nation’s history, it’s fascinating to watch their continued evolutions.

About the author: David Aylor is a Charleston-based lawyer with over ten years of experience in the field of law. His practice, Aylor Law, has been lauded for its exploits, and strives to bring an empathetic experience to its clients. David specializes in criminal defense, auto accidents, personal injury, and drug and alcohol offenses. Visit davidaylor.net for his blog on legal proceedings.