On August 20, 1866, the National Labor Union, the first American labor union to unite skilled and unskilled workers (preceding the Industrial Workers of the World by nearly 40 years), called on Congress to order an eight-hour workday.
The National Labor Union, led by William H. Sylvis, was created to pressure Congress to make labor law reforms. The Union failed to persuade Congress to shorten the workday and the labor organization itself dissolved in 1873. However, at its height, the union had 640,000 members and its efforts heightened public awareness of labor issues and increased public support for labor reform in the 1870s and 1880s.
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