id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
www-nma-gov-au-2427		Eight-hour day | National Museum of Australia			.html	text/html	1541	138	68	Eight-hour day | National Museum of Australia On 21 April 1856 stonemasons in Melbourne downed tools and walked off the job in protest over their employers' refusal to accept their demands for reduced working hours. This brought the employers to the negotiating table and led to an agreement whereby stonemasons worked no more than an eight-hour day. As the colony started to grow in the early part of the 19th century, new businesses, including many shops, started up. In the months to come, negotiations with employers and the government continued until an agreement was reached whereby stonemasons would work an eight-hour day but collect the same wage they had previously been paid for 10 hours. Julie Kimber and Peter Love, The Time of their Lives: The Eight Hour Day and Working Life, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne, 2007.	./cache/www-nma-gov-au-2427.html	./txt/www-nma-gov-au-2427.txt