Montana labor news., 1936-10-22
EIGHT-H0UR LAW A REASONABLE
MEASURE

The proposed constitutional amendment, designated as
House Bill No. Ii, which will be submitted to the electors
on November 3rd, is the most important measure that has
come up before the working people in a generation. There
should not be one DETECTION from the solid mass of working
peoples votes that should go for this measure. The working
people are voting in their own interests when they vote Tor
this measure. Be very careful, when the judges hand you the
ballot, that you vote for the %eight-hour amendment.
Take your time about voting. Do not be fastened or
confused. There will be three of these ballots that the unions
are much interested in: the state insurance law, which you
should vote for, the eight-hour amendment which as here
inbefore referred to, should get a solid union vote, and also
the non-partisan judicial ballot bearing the name OF Albert
Angstman. Vote for him. 1t may be necessary after this
amendment is carried that the laws which are set UP by
the Legislature in reference to the %eight-hour amendment
will come into the Supreme Court and we will need Angst
man there to interpret those laws for us.
Do not be confused about the lying corporation prOpa-
ganda that you are voting for a six-hour day. You are voting
for an %eght-hour day and nothing else. Remember also
that it will not injure industry; that it will not inJure your
working conditions; that it will not interfere in the re-
hottest particular with collective bargaining or the making
of agreements between the unions and the employer. The
corporations are afraid Of this measure. They don't want
a uniform eight-hour law.
1t is a striking contradiction in capitalist methods of
procedure in that when this proposed constitutional amend
ment came up in the Legislature in 1895, many of the sena-
tors and legislators in the House thought to be representing
the special interests voted to submit this proposed constitu-
tional amendment to the people. They knew what it was at
that time. Now they are desperately trying to undermine it.
Are the people aware of the reasonableness of this measure?
Do you know that many truck drivers are working IL to IA
hours a day? Do you know that there are girls in the hOspi-
tails of Butte that are working from IL to Ia hours a day?
Do you know that in other industries in Silver Bow County
that men are working 10 to 1O12 hours a day? 1T is the long
hours employed in industry in the production of wealth
and the greed of the corporations that nearly wrecked the
country and they still insist that they shall be allowed to
employ the workers as many hours as they see fit.
Montana has a number of eight-hour laws. 1t is neces-
sary that you pass this constitutional amendment in order
to save the eight-hour laws that we already have. The clerks
have a state eight-hour law. 1t has been challenged in two
district courts as to its constitutiOnaity. 1t may be declared
unconstitutional and thrown out. Other %eight-hOur laws
have been challenged as to their cOnstitutionaity. The Mon
tana Labor News will publish in the next issue the entire
list of eight-hom laws in the state OF Montana and how
these eight-hour laws are in jeopardy. We need this eight
hour amendment in order to protect the %eight-hour laws that
we already have. This is one phase of this combat that the
corporations don't like. They want to destroy the laws that
we already have. Insofar as working overtime and providing
emergencies to work more than eight hours, that can easily
be done by the Legislature passing a law to provide for it.
There will be a number of laws and legislation set up by
the Legislature after this is passed so no possible harm can
come to the workers or industry.
The hysterical ~shrieking of the corporations about a
six-hour day is false and confusing. Do not believe that a
sane Legislature will enact any harmful thing to the people
or the industries of this state.
Not long ago the secretary of the Associated Industries
of Butte, MIR. Martin, made addresses before various civic
connected with the union organizations should know better
than to make statements OF that kind. He is quite familiar
with the principle of collective bargaining and to put it
mildly, he made some very rash statements to these civic
organizations. Of course he was only stating what the Ana
cOnda Copper Mining Company and other large corporations
had put in his mouth. The very fact that the secretary of
the Associated Industries made these talks should be proof
to the working people that the measure is a good one and
that once again the corporations are trying to strangle the
interests Of the common people.