241 1 THE WORKING DAY lOQ 



but to take no active part in them, lest such action be " con- 

 strued as committing [the organization] to the enforcement 

 of the eight-hour system on May i, 1890, the date set for 

 its inauguration." Consistently with this position, the suc- 

 ceeding convention enacted that " wherever practicable, any 

 mill, department or factory under the jurisdiction of this 

 Association, desiring to do so, may upon agreement with 

 the management arrange to work on the eight-hour sys- 

 tem. "^^ The union did not, however, think it advisable 

 " to go into conflict in order to obtain it." Several mills 

 adopted it without any contest, such as the Homestead Steel 

 Works, Oliver and Roberts' wire rod mill, and the Brad- 

 dock Wire Company. '^^ This was practically as far as the 

 Association got in the direction of the eight-hour day.^^ 



The union more recently — in the conventions of 191 5 and 

 1916 — has adopted resolutions in favor of the eight-hour 

 day in all union plants, that is, in the finishing and puddling 

 departments as well. The reason for the delay by the con- 

 vention was the opposition of the workmen. It meant a 

 temporary wage reduction, and they were unwilling to ac- 

 cept it. Consequently, finishers generally work two turns 

 — in the vernacular of the men — " the night turn can always 

 shake hands with the day turn." The union leaders main- 

 tain that the three-turn system has been successful in plants 

 in which it is now operating ; that " it decreases the waste, 



13 Proceedings, 1890, pp. 3029, 3137 ff. 



1* National Labor Tribune, July 19, 1890, p. 4, and July 26, 1890, 

 p. 4. For a time, the eight-hour day seemed to gain in popularity. 

 The union was never successful in reducing the hours of labor in 

 nail factories, although laws were passed to this effect (Proceed- 

 ings, 1879, p. 262). Nor could the eight-hour turn be enforced in 

 rail mills and steel plants, except temporarily. The Homestead Steel 

 Works employed the twelve-hour shifts after the struggle of 1S92, 

 and the large steel plants of the United States Steel Corporation 

 began to operate certain departments twelve hours a day, including 

 Sunday, after the big steel strike in 1901. 



1"' Proceedings, 1902, p. 6261 ; 1907, pp. 7831, 7861. The eight-hour 

 system was insisted upon in case of lo-inch, guide and hoop mills 

 averaging $35 per turn (based on a one-cent card rate) on a single 

 furnace, and '$(}c, per turn on two furnaces; also in bar and 12-inch 

 mills averaging 6o,W)0 pounds on single, and 80,000 pounds on double 

 furnaces. 



