It's a bit more nuanced than that. Unions played a role most certainly, but so did some industrialists like George Johnson. I believe the term is welfare capita

It's a bit more nuanced than that. Unions played a role most certainly, but so did some industrialists like George Johnson. I believe the term is welfare capitalism. But yes, the 40 hour work week was definitely put in place to ensure people weren't just worked to the bone and then discarded.