ABSTRACT
The eight-hour day, implying the 48-hour week, was a key demand of the working class all over the world before the ILO was established . . . To the workers, the extension and generalized application of the eight-hour day represented a reform which no other could equal in value – a chance to share in the distribution of the new wealth created by modern industry and to receive that share in the form of spare time. More generally, the need to safeguard the health and well-being of workers was recognized; overlong hours had been shown to be harmful to economic efficiency as well as to material and moral welfare of the workers and to be incompatible with political democracy. Finally, there was a feeling in many quarters that international standards relating to hours of work might be a useful means of limiting the possibilities of unfair competition. In reflection of this trend of world opinion, the adoption of the eight-hour day and 48-hour week was a prime objective of the ILO.
