President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on June 25, 1938, establishing a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, a maximum 44-hour workweek, and banning oppressive child labor—but only after more than a year of fierce congressional opposition from business …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsHugo BlackU.S. CongressSouthern Democrats+1 morelabor-rightsminimum-wagechild-labornew-dealcorporate-resistance
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, establishing the first comprehensive federal system for old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children and the disabled, creating the foundation of the American social safety net. Labor …
Franklin D. RooseveltFrances PerkinsU.S. CongressAmerican Liberty LeagueNational Association of Manufacturers+1 morelabor-rightsnew-dealsocial-insurancecorporate-resistancedemocratic-reform
On March 25, 1911, a fire—likely sparked by a discarded cigarette—swept through the Triangle Waist Company factory on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the Asch Building in New York City, killing 146 workers, mostly teenage Italian and Jewish immigrant girls. The victims died not from the fire …