Bring Back the 40-Hr Work Week (LAT)

cont'd at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/editorials/la-op-robinson1jan01,1,2582777.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

January 1, 2006 latimes.com : Current : Editorials

HOW WE LIVE
Bring back the 40-hour workweek -- and let us take a long vacation
By Joe Robinson, Joe Robinson is the author of "Work to Live."


IT WAS A GREAT YEAR for labor — if you worked at a call center in India, made your living as a CEO or sold real estate to big-box stores. But deep in Cubicle Nation, the average American worker remained on a fast track to the Industrial Revolution, with soaring workweeks, declining wages and health, pension and vacation benefits vanishing faster than you can say job security.

Add to the siege outsourcing, cutbacks, the dismantling of ergonomics rules and forced overtime — all while business is racking up historic profits — and even a nearsighted dingo could see that the trends are unsustainable for families, personal health, company medical plans or an informed and involved citizenry. And completely unnecessary.


As all the productivity research shows, we can get the job done without finishing ourselves off. So let's fire some of the worst habits that got us here and ring in resolutions for a "Sane Workplace in 2006":

• Restore the 40-hour workweek. Almost 40% of us are working more than 50 hours a week, not exactly what the Fair Labor Standards Act intended when it set the 40-hour workweek in 1938.

if you agree to a salary benefits package it is in exchange for giving up roughly 40 hours a week of your life. If you regularly work less than that, your employer can actually sue you for "stealing" from the company, but when they demand that you regularly work more than 40 hours a week it could likewise be said that they're

1. stealing compensation from you that you could be receiving elsewhere
2. understaffing their business
3. taking irreplaceable priceless time from you, your life and family. You can't ever get it back.

Employers tend to like to think if it takes three people to do three full time jobs at 80 percent utilization, then two people can do three jobs at "about" 100% utilization.

It doesn't work out like that in reality. If you don't have slack, you are actually less productive over the long haul, and more prone to illness ("unplanned outages") and unhappiness on the job.

I absolutely support a 40 hour workweek, with some balanced give and take to either side.

I have friends who work for the Social Securiy Administration (Federal Gov) who have been told over the past couple of months by management that Saturday overtime is mandatory. Other than holiday weekends, they are expected to go in to work early every Saturday and work for from 5 to 8 hours. This is in addition to their 40 hour workweeks and the amount of work they process is closely monitored with a great deal of pressure to work faster. They are also often expected to work an extra hour overtime each weekday. Bush Administration does not want to hire necessary personnel.

Voluntary overtime has frequently been available for years, but requiring mandatory overtime on Saturdays just started recently since the new union contract took effect that has diminished the unions ability to file grievances on behalf of the workers.

Workers get time and a half for overtime and have good salaries that are comparable to teacher salaries but they are expected to give up necessary rest and relaxation with their families for the benefits of a Federal job.

I have no doubt the Bush Admin hopes to manipulate the situation to push for more private contracting (at lower salaries and benefits) of these jobs handling Social Security (and SSI) benefits.

Yesterday on CNBC they reported that there are currently 6,000 companies that will not hire smokers due to increased medical costs. They did a poll & 35% of the respondents said it was ok for a corporation to dictate your lifestyle in these circumstances.

The rest is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=106803&mesg_id=107067

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