Current Events > 32-hour work week better or worst for workers?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I mean, I see articles like this at how it would be a great thing when it just seems like a way to make less money. https://www.marketplace.org/2023/08/28/autoworkers-union-pushes-for-32-hour-workweek Where I work they already divided a lot of jobs in half so that no one gets paid much...it seems like its more or less the same thing only in theory you still get health care. I don't know, I get not being over worked but it comes down to money I guess.

I think the majority of the 32 hour crowd wants to be paid like it was a 40 hour week. Same pay, just less work.

Working hours should have decreased long ago with no accompanying drop in income.

terrible as a server since the chances for getting tipped are slimmer. I guess if it increases the pay alongside it, office workers would benefit the most.

"Part time" would be 31 hours, so is it's slightly less bad than the "club 29" era.

Depends. I'm not under the illusion that if my work week was cut by 20% that my pay wouldn't see a similar reduction, and that extra day off doesn't get me a discount on my bills.

EDIT: but the whole debate is, IMO, kind of worthless, because saying something like "when polled, most people would accept a reduced work week at the same pay" is kind of meaningless. No shit people would prefer to work less at no negative. I'm sure when polled most people would accept no work at the same pay, too, but that's not a statement we try to base policy on.

Income should go up. Its pretty far behind at 40 hours for most people.

bluezero posted...

I think the majority of the 32 hour crowd wants to be paid like it was a 40 hour week. Same pay, just less work.

I'm good with that.

Why should only the wealthy elites benefit so much from labor saving technology, increased productivity through automation, etc..?

The elites are rarely directly responsible for the research and brainpower that went into the new technology developments, but they reap all the financial benefits.

Honestly, a 32-hour work week with the same pay would be fair. They have been cheating us on pay for a long time now. This would at least make our hourly wages closer reflect what we should be getting paid at this point.

Torgo posted...

Why should only the wealthy elites benefit so much from labor saving technology, increased productivity through automation, etc..?

Because the wealthy can afford the robots.

Its weird how rich people have forgotten how they got rich in the first place. If the workers get paid more, have more free time, they are the ones to spend that money and it will all go back to the rich anyways. Having a strong middle class that can afford to spend stuff massively grows the economy and therefore fills the pockets of the rich.

That is absurd.

Keep working 40 hours, but make 4/10 shifts the norm so we all get three days off.

Most (all?) people championing the 32-hour week mean a 32-hour week with the same income as today.

I recently switched to 32 hours and I'm loving it. My extra day off is in the middle, rather than having a 3 day weekend, which I think is part of what makes it great.