> it's actually a funny story here. If you look at specifics, most of those things (like 8 hour workday and so on) were getting to be standard practice in the i

> it's actually a funny story here. If you look at specifics, most of those things (like 8 hour workday and so on) were getting to be standard practice in the industry before they were regulated. In the US perhaps, but in many countries, these kind of concessions where only done after the state intervened in the free market. The general political climate in which this was allowed to occur happened after many socialists political parties became recognized (or threatened with revolutionary action).