- cross-posted to:
- socialism@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- socialism@beehaw.org
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One interesting thing I was reading is that 4.5 day work-weeks are somewhat common in Pakistan, in order to accommodate both the international weekend (saturday/sunday) and the Muslim prayer on Friday afternoon.
Adopting that more widely could be a good incremental step, especially in places that offer remote options.
One thing I’d say that’s underrated is shorter opening hours in retail. The retail industry is too happy to be open 9am-10pm 7 days a week because workers are cheap, which means it’s economically impossible to pay a living wage without losing out as your competitors are open during hours when you’re not. They’re selling the same amount of stuff, just smeared over longer time and thus burning more employee-hours for the same output. The minimum wage hike here in Ontario seemed to produce a ratcheting back of these extreme hours; my local store went back to closing at 9pm, 8 on Sundays.
For real. I got so burnt out from being forced to be at the office for 8 hours while there was maybe 4 hours of work to do each day. Everyone else acting like this makes sense drives me crazy.
I’m down but don’t want a salary cut, hows that going to work?
A commensurate increase in pay so that you are making the same money but working fewer hours. I don’t think anyone seriously puts forward this idea and proposes achieving it via having everyone earn 20% less.
If it’s just an increase in pay, a lot of us are just going to work even more. Because now we get to survive. Let me know when you’re talking about real economic changes that help everyone thrive.
Well in that case you’d still benefit from the change because overtime would kick in after 32 hours instead of 40. But this is just one change and shouldn’t be thought of as the entirety of the labour movement. Of course reducing inequality and putting more of the nation’s wealth in the hands of working people is a part of the project.
Well in that case you’d still benefit from the change because overtime would kick in after 32 hours instead of 40.
“Overtime” doesn’t “kick in” when you’re working at your third job that only gives you 20 hours a week because they “can’t afford” to pay overtime every time you have to cover someone else’s shift.
Of course reducing inequality and putting more of the nation’s wealth in the hands of working people is a part of the project.
As we continue to move away from full-time jobs to a gig based economy, none of this applies to anyone that needs it. If you want to put money into the hands of working people, just put money in their hands. Capitalism is incapable of providing care for the members of society that don’t have capital, and trying to fix society’s problems with Capitalist tools is doomed to fail.
I agree. In my view, the project of the labour movement is socialism. Part of getting people on board with that vision is it’s proponents winning tangible benefits for people like that outlined in the article. You can’t just get to socialism by critiquing the current system, you have to build a sustained, organized movement and the labour movement, being a movement of the working class, aligns nicely along the idea of putting the working class in charge.
Do you think you’re actually paid anywhere close to the value of your work?
absolutely not, I bill my own work so I know exactly how much its worth. I bill my own bi-weekly pay stub in 3-5 hours.
There are only 7 days in a week the majority should be ours. 3 day work week!!!
