On this day in Labor History the year was 1916.
That was the day that the Federal Employees Compensation Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.
The act was sponsored by Senator John Kern, a Democrat from Indiana, and Daniel McGillicuddy, a Democratic Congressman from Maine.
The act provided compensation for federal civil service employees that lost wages because they were hurt or killed on the job.
There was great debate at the time over whether employees injured at work deserved to be compensated.
Before the turn of the twentieth century, those who sustained workplace injuries had little recourse.
Employers blamed workers for accidents and typically refused compensation leaving families destitute.
Edward Gainor, the President of the National Association of Letter Carriers explained the debate around the 1916 proposal saying, “The only question, the fundamental question, involved in this discussion is whether or not society should bear the burden of the injured worker in any industry.”
Increasingly, some lawmakers were beginning to make the case that society should indeed bear that burden.
Workers and labor leaders organized around issues of work place safety and demanded a compensation if they were injured on the job.
The law providing such a safety net for federal employees passed through the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin of 288 to 6.
Although the Act only applied to federal employees, it was an important step forward in recognizing that all workers deserved to be compensated for workplace injuries.
The federal Office of Workers Compensation Programs that operates today traces its history directly back to the 1916 act.
And because of this 1916 act some Three million federal employees and their families are covered under the acts protections.
February 21 - The First Female Telephone Operator
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
February 14 - Kansas City Laundresses Walk Off the Job
February 13 - Martial Law Declared to Crush the UAW
February 12 - The NAACP is Founded
February 11 - Cutting Corners on Safety at Sequoyah I
February 10 - Forty-Three Workers Buried Alive
February 9 - Organizing Bloody Harlan
February 8 - Butte Copper Miners Join the 1919 Strike Wave
February 7 - Strike at Cripple Creek
February 6 - Philly Garment Workers Win!
February 5 - The Fight for Craft Governance
February 4 - Solidarity on the Coast
February 3 - Anti-Trust Injunctions Used Against Labor
February 2 - The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Navigating Life After 40
Teaching Learning Leading K-12
Regenerative Skills
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast