January 5 in Labor History—Ford Institutes a “Living Wage”

Thanks to Jeff Garis at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center for sharing!

104 years ago today, on January 5, 1914, the Ford Motor Company instituted an 8-hour workday and announced that it would pay “a living wage” of at least $5 for a day’s labor – double what it had been paying previously. These changes represented important advances for workers, won through decades of concerted effort and organizing. Labor movement publications called for an 8-hour workday as early as 1836, and demands for income based on at least the minimum amount that would allow workers to meet the basic needs of their families received the support of Pope Leo XIII in 1891.