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The eight-hour How letter carriers’ fight led to a Supreme Court victory and legitimized the newly formed National Association of Letter Carriers oon after the Civil War, as fighting back with a vengeance, intent the nation was industrial- on smashing both the Knights and the izing, workers began to orga- movement. nize and fight for their rights. Like private employers, postal One of the earliest battles was management also vigorously opposed overS the eight-hour day. At the , it the movement. And when an eight- was common for laborers to work six hour bill for letter carriers, drafted by days a for 10 to 16 hours a day the Knights of Labor, was introduced with no overtime pay. in Congress in 1886, the Department As other groups successfully harassed any and all active supporters. negotiated for the change, such as Some carriers who led the campaign ship carpenters in Boston, the federal were fired for minor infractions of government passed an eight-hour law work rules. Others were transferred to in 1868 for federal “laborers, work- less-desirable routes, assigned routes men and mechanics.” The Post Office far from their homes, given extra du- Department, arguing that its employ- ties or ordered to take vacations with ees did not fit the description, refused no advance warning. to comply. It took for the general Frustrated in their attempts to force movement for an eight-hour day to ac- Above: Two carriers begin their routes in the late 1800s. the Department to reverse itself, angry complish its goal, with some industries letter carriers in the 1880s in cities of adopting it and others resisting it, and Top: The Old Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol served as the headquarters for the varying sizes, including New York, the change became widespread only Supreme Court until the 1930s. Chicago, Omaha and Buffalo, turned after the passage of the Fair Labor for help to the Noble Order of the Standards Act of 1937. The Depression- Knights of Labor, the leading labor law created time-and-a-half organization of the time. Letter carriers overtime pay as a way to encourage formed local Knights of Labor assem- employers to hire more employees for blies and many became leaders within 40 hours, rather than fewer for 60 or the organization. more. By the mid-1880s, the Knights were But one group of workers that had at the peak of their power and the an early victory was the nation’s letter entire nation was up in arms over the carriers. Using the lobbying influ- eight-hour day. Workers were strik- ence of their local associations—there ing and protesting. Employers were was no national union at the time—

16 The Postal Record March 2021 March 2021 particularly those in New York and Philadelphia, letter carriers convinced Congress to override the Department’s strong opposition. Lawmakers passed the Knights’ eight-hour bill for carri- ers in 1888. This victory was jubilantly of the Republic—an organization of The eight-hour day Union Army veterans—so that letter celebrated on July 4 of that by a massive parade of letter carriers from carriers who were veterans could take Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mary- advantage of reduced train fares. land, New Jersey, New York, Pennsyl- Ironically, the 60 carriers who an- vania and Washington, DC, through swered Milwaukee’s convention call— the streets of New York City. 48 accredited delegates and at least 12 For letter carriers, who at that time other participants—were not from the were working at least 10 to 12 hours large cities such as Philadelphia a day, seven days a week, with no and New York that had worked so hard for the passage of the eight-hour NALC was or- overtime pay, the enactment of the ganized above law, but primarily from small and mid- eight-hour bill was an impressive and Schaefer’s Saloon sized cities. When August Dahlman long-overdue victory. But it also was a in Milwaukee (top) of Milwaukee called the convention short-lived one. in 1889. William to order on Thursday, Aug. 29, 1889, Wood (above r) The Post Office Department, -ex in the meeting hall above Schaefer’s served as the tremely unhappy with the passage of Saloon at 244 West Water St., delegates first president. At the eight-hour law for carriers, openly moved quickly, unanimously adopting that first meet- ignored it for several . Then the ing, the members a resolution to form a National Asso- Department adopted a policy of delib- adopted a union ciation of Letter Carriers. The next day, erate evasion: It reinterpreted “eight logo (above l) they elected William Wood of Detroit that was turned hours a day” to mean eight hours a day as the first president and appointed into a gold badge. for seven days a week—or 56 hours a an Executive Board to coordinate all The badge was week. For example, letter carriers who legislative efforts. designed to help letter carriers—as worked nine hours a day for six days The Post Office Department was still owed the Department two hours union members shocked when it found out that the and as skilled of work on Sunday. This deliberate carriers had organized a union. workers—identify misreading of the law was enforced Resistance followed the shock almost one another. throughout the country. immediately. For example, in St. Louis, That’s when the National Asso- as in some other cities, all leaders ciation of Letter Carriers entered the of the local branch were summarily picture. dismissed and the branch temporar- Letter carriers had tried to organize ily disbanded. In some communities, a national union at least three , members of the union were forced to but each attempt failed, in part due work eight hours on and off over a to the expense of regularly convening 24-hour period. In other communities, enough carriers to sustain a national union supporters were given the least- organization. In 1889, the Milwaukee desirable routes. Letter Carriers Association decided The initial response of many carriers to time its call for another national when they heard that a national as- meeting of carriers to coincide with sociation had been organized also was the annual reunion of the Grand Army one of resistance, coupled with suspi-

March 2021 March 2021 The Postal Record 17 In the Post part of the case, the Post Office Depart- ment had told carriers that “the eight hours should consist of time employed in the actual Above: The 1893 Supreme Court that cion. Generally speaking, carriers from decided the case in favor of NALC. the big cities had not taken part in the distribution and collection of mail and Below: A newspaper article in the March 14, first, historic meeting in Milwaukee, as that the carriers should not recover 1893, Indianapolis Journal about the case noted, and so they were unsure of how extra pay for other service within the to respond to the so-called “national Post Office performed by them in con- association.” Initially, they remained nection with duties imposed on them apart, sending their own representa- by the postmaster,” the Indianapolis tives to the nation’s capital to lobby for Journal explained. “The court holds legislation. that this position is untenable and that Eventually, NALC and the larger the carriers are entitled to extra pay for cities’ carriers worked out their differ- over eight hours of work under such ences, but membership remained low circumstances.” throughout the country. Despite that, Finding for the letter carriers in the newly formed NALC knew that it both parts of the case, the Supreme had to work for the betterment of letter Court awarded letter carriers with carriers, and so it responded swiftly and cases similar to Gates and Post a total forcefully by suing the federal govern- of $3.5 million, settling thousands of ment over the Post Office Department’s overtime claims against the Depart- interpretation of the eight-hour law. ment. That would be more than NALC brought the lawsuit on behalf $100 million today when adjusted of two carriers: Frank Gates and Aaron for inflation. S. Post. Through appeals by the Post This first successful battle with the Office, the case reached the Supreme Post Office Department helped consoli- Court, which ruled on it in 1893. the new labor organization. Letter In the Gates part of the case, the Post carriers formerly indifferent to NALC or Office Department had contended that afraid to join because of management Gates had to work “an average of eight reprisals flocked to the union in great hours a day for a , the Depart- numbers. ment holding that any deficit in eight With this first victory under its hours on Sundays or other days could belt—only four after the union’s be set off against an excess over eight founding—NALC had cemented its hours on other days,” the Indianapolis reputation as a fearless and success- Journal reported on March 14, 1893. ful advocate for its members. For more The Supreme Court ruled that the than a and a quarter—and still Post Office Department had been counting—the union has continued to wrong to interpret the law in that way. fight for the rights of letter carriers. PR

18 The Postal Record March 2021