Need union history resources: shift pay, weekends, overtime

[Jaundice James]

Hi. I'm trying to write a pro-union article but I need to cite facts on some things that I only have in my head...
I'm looking for some web resources telling the history of union inventions like:
shift pay, overtime, weekends

Can anyone help? Thanks. -JJ

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I guess you can start here

http://modern-us-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/labor_unions_in_the_united_states

Acts and Reforms Related to Labor (a Partial Listing)

* 1913 U.S. Dept. of Labor Created
* 1931 Davis-Bacon Act – provides for prevailing wages to employees of contractors and subcontractors working on public construction
* 1936 Walsh-Healey Act – creates labor standards including minimum wages, overtime pay, safety standards on federal contract work and provisions for child and convict labor
* 1949 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended – child labor is prohibited
* 1963 The Equal Pay Act – prohibits wage differences based on sex
* 1964 The Civil Rights Act – prohibits many forms of job discrimination (race, color, national origin, sex or religion)
* 1970 Occupation and Safety Health Act (OSHA)
* 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act – allowing Congress to regulate pension funds

[Jaundice James]

3. That's OK but...

Thanks for that. I'll go through that.

I'm having particular trouble finding information about "shift pay".

As I understand it, if someone works horrible hours (midnight shift) then they get paid a little better than people who work normal business hours. I BELIEVE this was a union invention. I'd like to be able to state that and cite it.

Can someone help me find information about how unions stood for "shift pay".

If you're an expert and if you want, email me and I'll send you the text of my article and you can see what I need to cite.

-JJ

[Omaha Steve]

2. There are several sites for labor

Start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States

If you really want to get into it, let me know.

OS