Adamson Act
Encyclopedia
The Adamson Act was a United States federal law passed in 1916 that established an eight-hour workday, with additional pay for overtime work, for interstate railroad workers.

Named for Georgia representative William C. Adamson
William C. Adamson
William Charles Adamson was a U.S. Representative from Georgia.Born in Bowdon, Georgia, Adamson attended the common schools.He was graduated from Bowdon College in 1874.He studied law....

, this was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...

 of the Act in 1917.

Congress passed the Act in order to avoid a nationwide strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

. 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
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

, exercising the authority granted by the Army Appropriations Act of 1916
Army Appropriations Act of 1916
The Army Appropriations Act of 1916 authorized money for the larger troop strength, and created the Council of National Defense which established communications and information sharing between military and industrial leaders. The CND was a Cabinet committee with an Advisory Commission of...

, took over operation of the railroads on December 26, 1917. (See United States Railroad Administration
United States Railroad Administration
The United States Railroad Administration was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920. It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.- Background :On April 6, 1917, the...

.)

The Act, formerly codified at 45 U.S.C. §§ 65, 66, was repealed in 1996. At the time of its repeal it provided:
§65. Establishment of eight hour day
Eight hours shall, in contracts for labor and service, be deemed a day's work and the measure of standard of a day's work for the purpose of reckoning the compensation for services of all employees who are now or may hereafter be employed by any common carrier by railroad, except railroads independently owned and operated not exceeding one hundred miles in length, electric street railroads, and electric interurban railroads, which is subject to the provisions of subtitle IV of Title 49, and who are now or may hereafter be actually engaged in any capacity in the operation of trains used for the transportation of persons or property on railroads, except railroads independently owned and operated not exceeding one hundred miles in length, electric street railroads, and electric interurban railroads, from any State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, or from one place in the United States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the United States through a foreign country to any other place in the United States: Provided, That the above exceptions shall not apply to railroads though less than one hundred miles in length whose principal business is leasing or furnishing terminal or transfer facilities to other railroads, or are themselves engaged in transfers of freight between railroads or between railroads and industrial plants.

§66. Penalty for violation
Any person violating any provision of section 65 of this title shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than $100 and not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not to exceed one year, or both.


The language of the Adamson Act is now recodified, with only minor changes, at 49 U.S.C. §§ 28301, 28302.
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