Why This Might Be an Idea Whose Time Has Come
Posted by Prof. Goose on May 2, 2008 - 9:00am
This is a guest post by Aaron Newton, who is working with coauthor Sharon Astyk on the forthcoming book, A Nation of Farmers. Aaron contributes at Groovy Green; he also blogs at Powering Down. Aaron is a land planner and garden farmer in suburban North Carolina, seeking ways to transform the current course of human land use development in an effort to prepare for the effects of global oil production peak and its outcome on automotive suburban America.
The notion of our standard work week here in America has remained largely the same since 1938. That was the year the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, standardizing the eight hour work day and the 40 hour work week. Each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday workers all over the country wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and go to work. But the notion that the majority of the workforce should keep these hours is based on nothing more than an idea put forth but the Federal government almost 70 years ago. To be sure it was an improvement in the lives of many Americans who were at the time forced to work 10+ hours a day, sometimes 6 days of the week. So a 40 hour work week was seen as an upgrade in the lives of many of U.S. citizens. 8 is a nice round number; one third of each 24 hour day. In theory it leaves 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for other activities like eating, bathing, raising children and enjoying life. But the notion that we should work for 5 of these days in a row before taking 2 for ourselves is, as best I can tell, rather arbitrary.
The idea of a shorter work week is not a new one to anyone old enough to have lived through the energy shocks of the 1970's. It should be fairly obvious to anyone interested in conserving oil that reducing the number of daily commutes per week would reduce the overall demand for oil. There are about 133 million workers in America. Around 80% of them get to work by driving alone in a car. The average commute covers about 16 miles each way.
So let's stop and do some math...and I'll try to argue for 16 reasons why a four day work week is a good idea.
There's more… (3031 words)
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Wharf Rat on May 4, 2008 - 4:35am | Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
I've been mostly on a 3x12 hr shift for 10 years. I don't know whether my productivity has changed, but my gas bill is 40% less than it would be with 8 hr shifts. Is it more productive for the department? My first hospital went from 8 hr to 10 hr shifts in order to get improved staffing without hiring new employees. We had about 4 different shifts, with overlapping coverage. I believe the same thing happened when my current department went to twelves, so I'd have to say our productivity went up. Mostly, tho, productivity depends on the patient load.
Hours too long mentally? I'm probably thinking and functioning better in emergencies after 11 hours than I am when I walk in the door.
Hours too long physically? I'm 63, retiring in 6 months, and trying to pick up OT. Worked 112 hrs the last 2 weeks, without killing any patients, mice elf, or anything on the drive home. Just takes a good pair of legs; do about 6 miles in a shift.
Rat
PS...
Not a new idea. When my mom was in nursing school, ca 1940, they worked 5x12 plus half a shift on Sat. |
