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1911: The Massachusetts legislature authorized
the creation of the first minimum wage commission in the United States to
investigate conditions and report upon the advisability of establishing a
permanent wage commission.
(See: page 8 in Minimum wage legislation (222 pages), by Irene Osgood Andrews, assistant secretary, American association for labor legislation. Albany, J. B. Lyon company, printers, 1914. See also page 12 in Minimum-Wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries (334 pages) ; Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 167 : Bureau of Labor Statistics, Charles H. Verrill, Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, April 1915.)
June 4, 1912: The Massachusetts legislature approved an
Act to establish a Minimum Wage Commission and to provide for the determination
of minimum wages for women and minors. It was charged with inquiring
…into the wages paid to the female employees in any occupation in
the commonwealth
to see if …the commission has reason to
believe that the wages paid to a substantial number of such employees are
inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and to maintain the worker in
health.
(For language of the Act to establish the Minimum Wage Commission and to provide for the determination of minimum wages for women and minors see pages 63-66 of the First Annual report of the Minimum Wage Commission of Massachusetts: For the Six Months Ending December 31, 1913. (67 pages), Boston : Wright and Potter Printing Company, State Printers. 1914.) See also pages 134-139 in Minimum wage legislation, by Irene Osgood Andrews, assistant secretary, American association for labor legislation. Albany, J. B. Lyon company, printers,1914.
July 1, 1913: The
Massachusetts minimum wage law went into effect.
(See page 41 in Minimum-Wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries ; Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 167 (334 pages) : Bureau of Labor Statistics, Charles H. Verrill, Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, April 1915.)
1913: The First Annual report of
the Minimum Wage Commission of Massachusetts : For the Six Months Ending
December 31, 1913. (67 pages) included the observation that …the commission is of the opinion that in the occupation in question the wages paid to a substantial number of female employees are inadequate to supply the necessary cost of living and to maintain the worker in health
and included the recommendation that the law be amended to give it authority to issued determinations of minimum wages for women and minors in specific industries.
March 24, 1913: Governor Ernest Lister of the
State of Washington signed S. B. 100
(7 pages) - AN ACT to protect the lives, health, morals of women and
minors, workers, establishing an industrial welfare commission for women and
minors, prescribing its powers and duties, and providing for the fixing of
minimum wages and the standard condition of labor for such workers and
providing penalties for violation of the same, and making an appropriation
therefor.
The Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of this law on
March 29, 1937 in West Coast Hotel
Co. v. Parrish (1937) (36 pages)
(See: pages 602-608, Session Laws of the State of Washington, Thirteenth Session, Convened January 13; Adjourned March 13, 1913 by I. M. Howell, Secretary of State. Frank M. Lamborn, Public Printer.)
August 5, 1913: The Oregon Industrial Welfare
Commission issued the first minimum wage order to take effect in the United
States requiring that, effective October 4, 1913, "A minimum wage of one dollar
($1) a day shall be established for girls between the ages of sixteen (16) and
eighteen (18) years…" if they were working in a "…manufacturing
or mercantile establishment, millinery, dressmaking or hair dressing shop,
laundry, hotel or restaurant, telephone or telegraph establishment or
office…" .
(See: pages 29-33, Minimum wage legislation, by Irene Osgood Andrews, assistant secretary, American association for labor legislation. Albany, J. B. Lyon company, printers, 1914.)
April 1915: Minimum-Wage Legislation in the United
States and Foreign Countries ; Bulletin of the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics, No. 167 (335 pages) : Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Charles H. Verrill, Washington, D.C: Government Printing Office, April 1915.
Accessed November 24, 2024 at https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/5372.
February 28, 1918: Senator Park M. Trammell
(D-FL) introduced S. 3993 (15
pages), a bill to protect the lives and health and morals of women and
minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage
Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes; which, was read twice
and referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia.
March 1, 1918: Representative Edward Keating
(D-CO) introduced H. R. 10367
(16 pages), an Act to to protect the lives and health and morals of
women and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum
Wage Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes, which was referred to
the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered to be printed.
April 16, 1918: Hearings (44 pages),
before the Subcommittee of the Committee of the Committee on the District of
Columbia, House of Representatives, Sixty-Fifth Congress, Second Session, on H.
R. 10367, a bill providing for the establishment of a minimum wage in the
District of Columbia for women and children.
April 16, 1918: Hearings (1 page) Before
the Subcommittee of the Committee on the District of Columbia, House of
Representatives, Sixty-Fifth Congress, Second Session, on H. R. 10367,
Providing for the Establishment of a Minimum Wage Scale in the District of
Columbia for Women and Children.
April 17, 1918: Hearings (44 pages)
before the Subcommittee of the Committee on the District of Columbia, House of
Representatives, Sixty-Fifth Congress, Second Session, on S. 3993 (15 pages), a bill
to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in the
District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage Board, and define its
powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such
workers, and for other purposes.
May 14, 1918: Representative Edward Keating
(D-CO) introduced H. R. 12098
(14 pages), a bill to protect the lives and health and morals of women
and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage
Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes. which was referred to
the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered to be printed.
May 15, 1918: H. R. 12098 (House Report No.
571) (14 pages), a bill to protect the lives and health and morals
of women and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a
Minimum Wage Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the
fixing of minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes, which was
committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and
ordered to be printed.
May 15, 1918: The Committee on the District of
Columbia submitted House Report
571 (5 pages) to accompany H. R. 12098 (14 pages), a
bill to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in
the District of Columbia, and to establish a minimum-wage board, and define its
powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such
workers, and for other purposes, with the recommendation that it pass.
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and
ordered to be printed
May 16, 1918: Senator Park M. Trammell (D-FL)
introduced S. 4548 (14
pages), a bill to protect the lives and health and morals of women and
minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage
Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers. The bill was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the District of Columbia.
June 7, 1918: The Committee on the District of
Columbia, submitted Report No.
486 [Calendar No. 444] (8 pages) on S. 4548, a bill to protect the
lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in the District of
Columbia, and to establish a minimum wage board, and define its powers and
duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such workers, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with the
recommendation that the bill pass, with recommended amendments.
June 7, 1918: Senator Henry F. Hollis (D-NH)
reported Report No. 486
(Calendar No. 444) (14 pages), with amendments to S. 4548, a bill to protect the
lives and health and morals of women and minor workers in the District of
Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage Board, and define its powers and
duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such workers.
June 7, 1918: The Committee on the District of
Columbia submitted an adverse Report No. 488 (1 page)
to accompany S. 3993 (15
pages) (a bill to protect the lives and health and morals of women and
minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a minimum wage
board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes, having considered the
same) recommending that S. 3993
(15 pages) be indefinitely postponed since a similar bill (S. 4548) had been favorably
reported by the committee.
July 8, 1918: Congressional Record testimony
(19 pages) in the debate over H. R. 12098 (14 pages), a
bill to establish a minimum wage board for the District of Columbia.
(See: See the Congressional Record, 65th Congress, Second Session, Volume 56, Part 9, pages 8871 to 8889.
August 22 (calendar day, August 27), 1918: H. R. 12098 (19 pages) -
An Act to to protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers
in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum Wage Board, and define
its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of minimum wages for such
workers, and for other purposes, was read twice and referred to the Committee
on the District of Columbia.
August 26, 1918: Congressional Record testimony
(4 pages) in the debate over H. R. 12098 (14 pages), a
bill to establish a minimum wage board for the District of Columbia.
(See: See the Congressional Record, 65th Congress, Second Session, Volume 56, Part 10, pages 9534 to 9537.
September 6, 1918: H. R. 12098, Report No. 562
(14 pages), An Act to to protect the lives and health and morals of
women and minor workers in the District of Columbia, and to establish a Minimum
Wage Board, and define its powers and duties, and to provide for the fixing of
minimum wages for such workers, and for other purposes, was reported by Mr.
Kenyon without amendment.
September 11, 1918: Congressional Record testimony
(1 page) in the debate over H. R. 12098 (14 pages).
Senator William S. Kenyon (R – IA) moved that the Senate consider House
bill H. R. 12098 (14
pages), saying that it was “known as the minimum wage bill for the
District of Columbia. It has passed the House and has been reported unanimously
from the District of Columbia Committee of the Senate.” However, at the
motion of Thomas S. Martin (D-VA), the bill was temporarily laid aside.
(See the Congressional Record, 65th Congress, Second Session, Volume 56, Part 10, page 10189.
September 19, 1918 Congress approved the District of Columbia minimum-wage law (40
Stat. 960) (5 pages) guaranteeing a minimum wage to women and
children employed in the District of Columbia.
April 9, 1923: In Adkins v. Children's Hospital (261 U.S.
525) (47 pages) the Supreme Court ruled that the 1918 District of
Columbia Minimum Wage Act, which established a federal minimum wage for women
and children employed in the District of Columbia, was an unconstitutional
infringement of liberty of contract. The Supreme Court overturned this decision
in West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937).
October 24, 1929: The Dow Jones Industrial
Average started dropping precipitously, forcing many investors to sell their
shares - leading to a collapse of stock prices. The resulting financial loss is
considered a major cause of the Great Depression (1929-1939), ruining many
businesses and sending millions into unemployment.
March 3, 1931: President Herbert Hoover
signed the Davis–Bacon Act (PL 71-798) into law. The Act required that
laborers and mechanics working on public works projects be paid not less than
the local prevailing wages, thereby effectively establishing the local
prevailing wage as the minimum wage for those employees. It had been introduced
in the Senate by James J. Davis (R-PA), and in the House of Representatives by
Robert L. Bacon (R-NY).
May 17, 1933: The National Industrial
Recovery Act was introduced in the House by Representative Robert L. Doughton
(D–NC) as H.R. 5755.
(See: page 4062 of the Congressional Record, First Session of the Seventy-Third Congress, Volume 77, Part 4, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/crecb/_crecb/Volume%20077%20(1933))
June 16, 1933: President Franklin Roosevelt
signed the National Industrial Recovery Act (Pub.L. 73–67, 48 Stat. 195).
The law contained provisions relating to minimum wages and maximum hours of labor:
"SEC. 7. (a) Every code of fair competition, agreement, and license approved, prescribed, or issued under this title shall contain the following conditions: (1) That employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be free from the interference restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection; (2) that no employee and no one seeking employment shall be required as a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of his own choosing; and (3) that employers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, approved or. prescribed by the President." [NOTE: Underlining added]
"SEC. 7. (b) The President shall, so far as practicable, afford every opportunity to employers and employees in any trade or industry or subdivision thereof with respect to which the conditions referred to in clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) prevail, to establish by mutual agreement, the standards as to the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and such other conditions of employment as may be necessary in such trade or industry or subdivision thereof to effectuate the policy of this title; and the standards established in such agreements, when approved by the President, shall have the same effect as a code of fair competition, approved by the President under subsection (a) of section 3." [NOTE: Underlining added]
"SEC. 7. (c) Where no such mutual agreement has been approved by the President he may investigate the labor practices, policies, wages, hours of labor, and conditions of employment in such trade or industry or subdivision thereof; and upon the basis of such investigations, and after such hearings as the President finds advisable, he is authorized to prescribe a limited code of fair competition fixing such maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment in the trade or industry or subdivision thereof investigated as he finds to be necessary to effectuate the policy of this title, which shall have the same effect as a code of fair competition approved by the President under subsection (a) of section 3. The President may differentiate according to experience and skill of the employees affected and according to the locality of employment; but no attempt shall be made to introduce any classification according to the nature of the work involved which might tend to set a maximum as well as a minimum wage." [NOTE: Underlining added]
"SEC. 206. All contracts let for construction projects and all loans and grants pursuant to this title shall contain such provisions as are necessary to insure …(2) that (except in executive, administrative, and supervisory positions), so far as practicable and feasible, no individual directly employed on any such project shall be permitted to work more than thirty hours in anyone week; (3) that all employees shall be paid just and reasonable wages which shall be compensation sufficient to provide, for the hours of labor as limited, a standard of living in decency and comfort;…. [NOTE: Underlining added]
(See: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-industrial-recovery-act.)
July 27, 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt
issued The President's Reemployment Agreement, which started with the statement
To Every Employer: 1. This agreement is part of a nationwide plan to raise
wages, create employment, and thus increase purchasing power and restore
business. That plan depends wholly on united action by all employers. For this
reason I ask you, as an employer, to do your part by signing.
The Agreement
included provisions for a minimum wage of not less that $15 per week, a 40 hour
workweek, prohhibitions against employing child labor.
(See: page 235, The Roosevelt I knew, byFrances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books,2011.
August 10, 1933: President Franklin Roosevelt
issued Executive Order 6246, requiring government contractors to comply with
codes of fair competition issued under the National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA).
(See: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/_resources/images/eo/eo0007.pdf. See also https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-6246-code-compliance-and-government-purchases)
May 27, 1935: In Schechter Corp. v. United States, (295
U.S. 495), the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the National Recovery Act
was unconstitutional.
Concerned by the opposition to the way that the
National Recovery Act was functioning might cause it to fail, Secretary of
Labor Frances Perkins later wrote that "During this period of doubt over NRA's
future, I began to explore means to save what I thought was basic and important
- the limitation of hours of labor and the establishment of a floor under
wages. I persuaded the solicitor of the Department of Labor to draw up two
bills. One, a public contacts bill, employed the conception Felix Frankfurter
had given us in 1932 that the Federal Government had power under the
Constitution to determine the labor considerations under which goods purchased
by the Government should be manufactured. The other, assuming the
constitutionality of federal legislation, called for general wage and hour
stnadards and embodied the idea that the Black thirty-hour bill of 1932 and
1933 had lacked."
June 14, 1935: The Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act was introduced in the Senate by David Walsh (D-MA), and in the
House of Representative by Arthur Healey (D-MA).
August 12, 1935: The Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act was passed by the Senate without a roll call.
(See: pages 12883-12896, Congressional Record, 74th Congress, 1st Session, Volume 79, Part 12 (August 12, 1935).
June 1, 1936: In Morehead v. New York ex rel.
Tipaldo, (298 U.S. 587), the U.S. Supreme Court declared that a law
enacted by the State of New York providing a minimum wage for women and
children was unconstitutional.
(See: page 237, The Roosevelt I knew, by Frances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books, 2011.
June 30, 1936: The Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act (41 USC §§6501-6511) was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
It established minimum wage, maximum hours, and safety and health standards for
work on contracts in excess of $15,000 for the manufacturing or furnishing of
materials, supplies, articles, or equipment to the U.S. government or the
District of Columbia.
"This Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act was an important forerunner of the Fair Labor Standards Act, since it established the forty-hour for contractors manufacturing supplies for the government, directed the Secretary of Labor to determine rates for the manufacture of such commodities, forbade the employment of children in the performance of government contracts, and established an administrative procedure in the Department of Labor for detecting violations and enforcing the labor provisions in the contract."
(See: page 242, The Roosevelt I knew, by Frances Perkins ; introduction by Adam Cohen. New York : Penguin Books, 2011.
March 29, 1937: In West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish
(1937), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of minimum
wage legislation enacted by the State of Washington. In this decision, the
Supreme Court overturned their 1923 ruling in Adkins v. Children's Hospital,
(261 U.S. 525).
In his decision, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes Sr. wrote that "The exploitation of a class of workers who are in an unequal position with respect to bargaining power and are thus relatively defenceless against the denial of a living wage is not only detrimental to their health and well being but casts a direct burden for their support upon the community. What these workers lose in wages the taxpayers are called upon to pay. The bare cost of living must be met" and that "The community is not bound to provide what is in effect a subsidy for unconscionable employers."
May 24, 1937: The Fair Labor Standards Act of
1937 was introduced in Congress as S. 2475 in the Senate, and H.R. 7200 in the
House of Representatives.
(See: "May 24, 1937 to June 28, 1938: Introduction and Approval of The Fair Labor Standards Act" at http://vlibrary.info/FLSA/FLSA_IP.html)
June 25, 1938: The Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938 was passed by Congress and signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
October 24, 1938: The Fair Labor Standards
Act went into effect.
February 3, 1941: In United States v.
Darby, 312 U.S. 100 (1941), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fair Labor
Standards Act was "within the authority of Congress within the commerce power
and consistent with the Fifth and Tenth Amendments."
===============================================================================================================================================================================
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the Rev. John Augustine Ryan. New York, The Macmillan company; London,
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Bible and Labor, by Joseph Husslein. National
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Congressional Record (Bound), 1873 to 2016, U.S.
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