6 ms·

"Workplace is inappropriate for politics" is a really ahistorical stance to take. All the things that you enjoy nowadays (8 hr work day, 5 day work week, no chi

"Workplace is inappropriate for politics" is a really ahistorical stance to take. All the things that you enjoy nowadays (8 hr work day, 5 day work week, no child labour, etc) came about as a result of organized politics at the workplace.

xbar 6y ago
Nope. Those are all the results of laws which came from politically elected officials who made policy. None of my employers limited work hours or work days or children at work because of political discourse in the office. Nor did historical companies from 3 generations ago when such laws were passed. All of those laws were created because companies did NOT implement such limits.
- hire_charts 6y ago
  Who do you think convinced the politicians to make it happen? Lobbyists? (Ha.) It came out of labor movements! Strikes and walkouts! In 1867 workers shut down the entire Chicago economy for a week! (Congress then passed an 8-hour law in 1868, but that was just one step along the way.)
- nickff 6y ago
  >All of those laws were created because companies did NOT implement such limits. Many of the 'work standards' laws (including child labor laws) were actually enforcing standards and best-practices which originated from industry leaders. One example is how the mechanized textile manufacturers eliminated child labor (as it was unnecessary and uneconomical), then lobbied governments to ban child labor (probably to 'punish' their competitors). The 40-hour work week (largely) originated at various industry-leaders (notably including Ford, which was very efficient, and preferred energetic and loyal workers over tired and seasonal ones). https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/40-hour-workweek-henry-ford-1026067-2017-07-27 https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs...
  - Ar-Curunir 6y ago
    If by "industry leaders" you mean unionized workers, then sure.
    - nickff 6y ago
      Ford was not unionized when they moved to the 40-hour work week, and the textile mills weren't unionized when they eliminated child labor.
      - joshuamorton 6y ago
        No, but movements for minimum age limits in industry began in unions in the mid 1800s, and the Democratic party adopting a pro-minimum-age law stance was due to pressure from Unions. Similarly, the push for 8 hour workdays began with union support in the mid 1800s, 50+ years before Ford popularized it (and in fact it was due to this pressure that public sector employees had 8-hour workdays as early as 1869). Individual states had banned child labor and passed 8-hour workday laws (due to union and public pressure) far before Ford or the Textile mills did so "voluntarily".
- Ar-Curunir 6y ago
  Educate yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_young_people%27s_rights_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_young_people%27s_r... https://www.timesizing.com/history-of-the-american-workweek/ https://www.timesizing.com/history-of-the-american-workweek/
- rospaya 6y ago
  It's extremely ironic to read this on the international workers day, May 1st. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day People died so you can have an 8 hour workday, and they organized in the workplace.
heavyset_go 6y ago
A lot of these policies seem like they'd violate NLRA/NLRB rules, as well.
jakenotjacob 6y ago
Do you feel good initiatives require someone to be political to be apart of? Watered down a bit more... do you believe someone can be a good person without affiliating with a group in order to do it? That's very odd to me... Similar in vein to self-studied engineers/academics vs those who need a college group of peers to do it.
- Ar-Curunir 6y ago
  Politics is not “Dems vs Republicans” or “Tory vs Labour”. All the aforementioned improvements came from organized workers protesting against their bosses. That is politics.
StanislavPetrov 6y ago
There's a difference between being completely apolitical in the workplace and being engaging in 24/7 political advocacy that infects every single issue you touch. I used to work with a guy who was a devout Christian. He would wear his cross, and everyone once in a while would say something like, "with God's blessing". That's okay. He didn't construct an altar next to the cash register and give sermons while zealously trying to convert every customer and employee and demand that we tithe 10% to the church. If he did that, we would have told him that it his behavior was not appropriate for work. It wouldn't matter how passionately he believed in his religion, or how critical he insisted it was that everyone was "saved". Its just not appropriate behavior for the workplace.

xbar 6y ago

Nope. Those are all the results of laws which came from politically elected officials who made policy. None of my employers limited work hours or work days or children at work because of political discourse in the office. Nor did historical companies from 3 generations ago when such laws were passed. All of those laws were created because companies did NOT implement such limits.

hire_charts 6y ago
Who do you think convinced the politicians to make it happen? Lobbyists? (Ha.) It came out of labor movements! Strikes and walkouts! In 1867 workers shut down the entire Chicago economy for a week! (Congress then passed an 8-hour law in 1868, but that was just one step along the way.)
nickff 6y ago
>All of those laws were created because companies did NOT implement such limits. Many of the 'work standards' laws (including child labor laws) were actually enforcing standards and best-practices which originated from industry leaders. One example is how the mechanized textile manufacturers eliminated child labor (as it was unnecessary and uneconomical), then lobbied governments to ban child labor (probably to 'punish' their competitors). The 40-hour work week (largely) originated at various industry-leaders (notably including Ford, which was very efficient, and preferred energetic and loyal workers over tired and seasonal ones). https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/40-hour-workweek-henry-ford-1026067-2017-07-27 https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs...
- Ar-Curunir 6y ago
  If by "industry leaders" you mean unionized workers, then sure.
  - nickff 6y ago
    Ford was not unionized when they moved to the 40-hour work week, and the textile mills weren't unionized when they eliminated child labor.
    - joshuamorton 6y ago
      No, but movements for minimum age limits in industry began in unions in the mid 1800s, and the Democratic party adopting a pro-minimum-age law stance was due to pressure from Unions. Similarly, the push for 8 hour workdays began with union support in the mid 1800s, 50+ years before Ford popularized it (and in fact it was due to this pressure that public sector employees had 8-hour workdays as early as 1869). Individual states had banned child labor and passed 8-hour workday laws (due to union and public pressure) far before Ford or the Textile mills did so "voluntarily".
Ar-Curunir 6y ago
Educate yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_young_people%27s_rights_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_young_people%27s_r... https://www.timesizing.com/history-of-the-american-workweek/ https://www.timesizing.com/history-of-the-american-workweek/
rospaya 6y ago
It's extremely ironic to read this on the international workers day, May 1st. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day People died so you can have an 8 hour workday, and they organized in the workplace.

heavyset_go 6y ago

A lot of these policies seem like they'd violate NLRA/NLRB rules, as well.

jakenotjacob 6y ago

Do you feel good initiatives require someone to be political to be apart of? Watered down a bit more... do you believe someone can be a good person without affiliating with a group in order to do it? That's very odd to me... Similar in vein to self-studied engineers/academics vs those who need a college group of peers to do it.

Ar-Curunir 6y ago
Politics is not “Dems vs Republicans” or “Tory vs Labour”. All the aforementioned improvements came from organized workers protesting against their bosses. That is politics.

StanislavPetrov 6y ago

There's a difference between being completely apolitical in the workplace and being engaging in 24/7 political advocacy that infects every single issue you touch. I used to work with a guy who was a devout Christian. He would wear his cross, and everyone once in a while would say something like, "with God's blessing". That's okay. He didn't construct an altar next to the cash register and give sermons while zealously trying to convert every customer and employee and demand that we tithe 10% to the church. If he did that, we would have told him that it his behavior was not appropriate for work. It wouldn't matter how passionately he believed in his religion, or how critical he insisted it was that everyone was "saved". Its just not appropriate behavior for the workplace.