§ 1.1.7 LEGISLATION FOLLOWING THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

JurisdictionArizona

§ 1.1.7 Legislation Following the Constitutional Convention. Following 1912 statehood, Labor lost no time securing and implementing the gains made at the Constitutional Convention. The legislature enacted a workers' compensation act and an employers' liability act,129 made it illegal for an employer to require a worker to give up his rights to compensation,130 made it a crime to employ a worker without having the funds to pay him for his service131 or to exact a fee or gratuity as a condition of employment,132 passed an act requiring that only citizens be employed in public works, passed prohibitions on child labor,133 passed safety requirements for hazardous occupations, enacted an 8-hour workday on public works and in hazardous occupations134 and for women,135 passed safety laws for railway workers; passed a mining code; passed an act requiring semimonthly pay days; passed an act relating to mine ventilation; enacted a provision prohibiting the sale of jobs; and passed a law abolishing "yellow dog contracts" (which applied to unions and employers' associations).136 In addition, the legislature enacted a state pension act for Arizonans over 70 who had resided in the state for more than 35 years, and imposed limitations on the use of the injunction in labor disputes.137 It also established the office of mine inspector,138 called for by article XIX of the Arizona Constitution, and established a free employment office.139 Notwithstanding the blacklisting statute passed in 1912,140 an anti-blacklisting initiative was drafted by the AFL making it illegal to have an understanding between two or more individuals to prohibit or prevent a person from engaging in a "useful occupation." The initiative was approved.141

The Arizona Supreme Court liberally interpreted laws enacted for the protection of workers. For example, the court held in Arizona Eastern Railroad Co. v. Bryan142 that when the employer invoked contributory negligence as a defense in an action under the federal Employer's Liability Act, the invocation was an admission by the employer that the employer was guilty of some negligence. "The allegations of contributory negligence as a defense necessarily assume negligence on the part of the defendant, and a defense under the statute is partial, not a complete defense."143 The court also imposed a nondelegable duty on the employer to use "proper diligence in the employment of competent men,"144 and to provide workmen a reasonably safe place to work and with reasonably safe instrumentalities.145 An employer was held to be negligent as a matter of law for failure to notify a young, inexperienced employee of the hazards and dangers of his employment.146 In Red Rover Copper Co. v. Hillis,147 the court held that the Employer's Liability Law applied to employees and independent contractors injured by an employer's negligence. The Employer's Liability Law was also held to cover any accident due to a condition of...

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