To commemorate its centennial, editors at the Monthly Labor Review have produced an excellent and fascinating report on The life of American workers in 1915 and the progress we have seen in the workplace since then. We think it’s worth your time to check it out!
The context of the era is first established with a list of news events that were occurring at the time: a bill to give women the right to vote was rejected; labor leader Joe Hill was charged with murder, a charge that would lead to his execution; Alexander Graham Bell made his famous call to Thomas Watson in San Francisco, Typhoid Mary was arrested, Einstein formulated his theory of general relativity -these and several other key events shaped the era.
The report goes on to discuss the demographics of the day and paint a portrait of daily life with many interesting facts about daily life ranging from where and how people lived (mortgages typically ranged from 5 to 7 years, but required 40-50% down) to how they commuted to work each day (streetcar, by foot or by horse) , what they typically ate for breakfast (corn flakes and puffed wheat cereals), what they wore for work clothing, how many hours they worked, what an average worker was paid ($687 a year), how they spent their leisure time, and more. It’s a fascinating and well-researched historical document.
For our purposes, we were most interested in work conditions and safety. Here’s one excerpt:
Although working in mines was notoriously dangerous, mill work could also be quite hazardous. BLS reported about 23,000 industrial deaths in 1913 among a workforce of 38 million, equivalent to a rate of 61 deaths per 100,000 workers. In contrast, the most recent data on overall occupational fatalities show a rate of 3.3 deaths per 100,000 workers. Regarding on-the-job safety, Green notes, “There was virtually no regulation, no insurance, and no company fear of a lawsuit when someone was injured or killed.” Frances Perkins, who went on to become the first Secretary of Labor (1933–45), lobbied for better working conditions and hours in 1910 as head of the New York Consumers League. After witnessing the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which caused the death of 146 mainly young, immigrant female garment workers in New York’s Greenwich Village, Perkins left her job to become the head of the Committee on Public Safety, where she became an even stronger advocate for workplace safety. From 1911 to 1913, the New York State legislature passed 60 new safety laws recommended by the committee. Workplaces have become safer, and technology has been used in place of workers for some especially dangerous tasks.
In addition to this excellent article, there are a few noteworthy accompanying reports and articles in the sidebar, as well. Occupational changes during the 20th century charts how farmers, craftsmen, laborers and private household workers gave way to professional, managerial and service workers over the course of the century. Labor law highlights, 1915–2015 runs through legislation and trends that improved the worker’s lot – ranging from legislation that regulated child labor to laws prohibiting discriminatory practices for women and minorities. Two key legal initiatives were the introduction and adoption of workers compensation laws and workplace safety initiatives being legislated in 1970 with the passage of the birth of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
Theodore Roosevelt, arguing in favor of workers’ compensation (then known as workmen’s compensation) laws in 1913, offered the story of an injured worker that summed up the legal recourse available for workplace injuries at the time. A woman’s arm was ripped off by the uncovered gears of a grinding machine. She had complained earlier to her employer that state law required the gears be covered. Her employer responded that she could either do her job or leave. Under the prevailing common-law rules of negligence, because she continued working she had assumed the risk of the dangerous condition and was not entitled to compensation for her injury.
As the example illustrates, common-law negligence was not ideal for handling workplace injuries. Workers who noticed hazards could either “assume the risk” and continue working, or leave work; they were powerless to change the condition. Employers were at risk as well: they were vulnerable to negligence suits that could yield large, unanticipated awards for injured workers. Workers’ compensation, where employers insure against the cost of workplace injuries and workers have defined benefits in the case of injury, significantly reduced the risk for both parties.
Our brief excepts don’t do these report justice. Kudos to all the people who produced these great documents and congratulations on 100 years of reporting on the American workplace!
