Despite the show of strength, only a few thousand workers were employed under eight-hour contracts, out of 60,000 in the city. Employers formed a ten-hour league society in response to the workers’ movement. Ship employers, starting with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, fired employees who had been working eight hours and advertised back east for replacement workers. A compromise was reached when the fired workers were allowed to return at eight hours per day but with a slight cut in pay.