4 ms·
> Everywhere we look, technology is replacing human labor. In OECD countries, productivity has more than doubled since the '70s. Yet there has been no perceptib
by GuiA 12y ago
> Everywhere we look, technology is replacing human labor. In OECD countries, productivity has more than doubled since the '70s. Yet there has been no perceptible movement to reduce workers' hours in relation to this increased productivity; instead, the virtues of "creating jobs" are trumpeted by both Democrats and Republicans.
When the first laws for 40 hour workweeks (or 35 hours, for countries like France) were passed, almost half a century ago, they were seen as stepping stones to shorter workweeks- the goal was to go down to 30, then 20, and maybe at some point in the year 2020 we'd only work one day a week.
Well, turns out that's not how it turned out.
- yodsanklai 12y agoFrance switched from 39 hours to 35 hours per week about 15 years ago. This is still very controversial and right-wings parties would like to somehow revert the change.
- GuiA 12y agoSure, and right wing parties also want to tear down the banlieues and send all the "immigrants" "back home". At this point "les 35 heures" is so engrained in French society that going back is practically impossible.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- jmnicolas 12y agoRight wing doesn't mean far right. What you describe is the (non official) program of the far right "Front National" not the normal right wing "UMP".
- barnaby 12y agoHave you seen the election results in France recently? FN might as well be called the "normal right" in France at this point.
- vidarh 12y agoConsider that this is a long battle. The fight for the 40 hour work week started as far back as 1817, with Robert Owen. A century later most workers still had longer hours, despite a strong and persistent escalation in union pressure. The decades since 40 hour work weeks became fully ingrained in most of Europe is peanuts in comparison, and yet a number of countries have gone further.
- CmonDev 12y agoThe problem is that there is no longer an opposition in the form of USSR, so it's harder to negotiate using communism as a threat. Stalin's vision was to (eventually) reduce the workday to 6-5 hours so that people would have more time for education.