A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
Our Goals
Lol. This country just voted to move in the opposite direction of this. We voted for less worker rights. Less power for the average person.
At this point, we'll need to start utilizing our 2nd amendment right if we want to get anything better than what we have. People died to give us the 40 hour work week. Looks like that's going to have to happen again for any further improvements.
Smarter countries did it without the bloodshed. America isn't that smart.
My dipshit coworkers think trump will actually be good for unions. Mfers.
I'd like to add that 32 hour weeks is pretty much purely something that works for white collar work. It's considerably harder to implement in blue collar settings.
It’s not, really. It would be easy to implement at any company that makes a decent profit margin. Productivity goes up with shorter working hours, anyway.
Productivity goes up with shorter working hours, anyway.
That is pretty much entirely untrue with blue collar jobs. I'm working from the start to the end of my shift---working less or more hours as I do depending on the season doesn't change that. Pace stays about the same.
It would be easy to implement at any company that makes a decent profit margin.
Slower production isn't just about profit margins--it's also about fulfilling your customers needs
Not true. The electricians in my area work 7 hour days and the sheet metal workers get every other Friday off.I know machinists who work 3 12s.
I deeply wish this would happen, but know it would never happen in my lifetime in my country.
I've been working full time, sometimes overtime, for almost five years out of college. I want to practice piano more. I'd love to volunteer. I want to go outside more. I've always wanted to spend a month backpacking in the Pacific Northwest. It's been my lifelong dream to write a book.
I'm so exhausted after work every single day that I can only get myself to play piano for a half an hour, and then play video games or read until I pass out before my bedtime.
Want happier employees?
No. American corporations absolutely do not care about how happy their employees are. They only care about maximizing profits, and the best way to do that is to squeeze as much productivity out of their workers while also paying those workers as little as possible.
They know the workers aren't there to find fucking happiness. Few are so privileged. Most people go to work not because it makes them happy, but because they need the god damn money, to keep a roof over their head and to put food on the dinner table, and as everything gets more expensive, the workers need more and more money, to stave off homelessness and destitution. Happiness, Jesus Christ. What a luxury!
The purpose of capitalism isn't to make people happy. It's to make profit for owners. That's it.
Lmao they don't want happier employees they want more money
Your premise is flawed in the first sentence - "Want happier employees?" No American employer cares about that in the least. Being happy at being allowed to keep their job and keep showing up to collect your meager pay is about all you can expect.
4 weeks is still not on par with other civilised countries. Living here in the UK now, 5 weeks is standard. When I was in the Netherlands I was getting six.
Know what really hurts?
Running into foreigners in your own city who tell you about how they're on a multi-week vacation to America and they'll probably do it again to another country again next year. I've had that happen multiple times while out at bars in my city.
Meanwhile, I've barely crossed state lines in my entire adulthood because it's hard to even get a 3-4 day extended weekend.
America sucks y'all.
Join a union. I work part time in America. After just one year of working I had 3 weeks of vacation. After 3 I now have 4 weeks and am taking my 2nd international trip of the year and 3rd vacation trip of the year.
Or better yet, unionize your own workplace with vacations as the primary demand
Okay i agree now what
Start paying people enough that they can actually live instead of struggling just to keep their heads above water.
Wait,you guys don't get that? Shit I'm.here in Northern Ireland and that would be less than standard. That's what we give teenagers,hell,most teens would not take that deal. When did America start treating the worker so bad? Like 1865?
America was built on treating the worker badly. Most of the first people that came here were either slaves or indentured servants. Chinese people got exploited to build the railroads, and then banned from being citizens in the country. Now we have prison slavery and wage servitude. There are a million and one examples, but exploiting the worker is as American as apple pie.
The only thing that has ever really improved in American labor is actual safety standards for work environments, equipment, etc. We do a great job of prioritizing that. But actual workers are viewed as expendable, and many of the largest employers are just meat grinders even if they offer half-decent benefits. Walmart is a good example of that
"But worker rights that is socialism! Socialism is evil because the soviets say they are that!"
Don't forget the healthy dose of salary and humane treatment.
I would literally take a life for that work balance.
40-50hrs a week isn't a life worth living
four weeks? hell no, i'd walk from any interview that attempted to strip two weeks of vacation from me.
Exactly. The "wild fantasies" of Americans seem to be "below average" European.
Also worth mentioning from the article,
I work fully in the office. But I think remote work is better for work-life balance. I don't have the option to work remote
Well, why not? Covid showed how great this can work .. but so many companies went back to 20th century norms as soon as the pandemic ended*
4 weeks vacation is too small.
Make it 8. Rest is fine.
32hr workweek as a transition period down to 24 or even 20. 4 weeks PTO for new hires or something, add 2 weeks per year up to like 8 or 10, or even 12?
Fuck capitalism.
No matter how valid the premise is, that headline kills this article. It should say, "Want More Productivity? Start with yada yada..."
Unfortunately the leading point of view from employers
Is that if an employee is happy with their job... THEY ARE NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH.
They feel that ONLY those who hate their jobs .. are efficient
i dont WANT happier employees i want MONEY!
But companies don’t want happier employees. With that title this article will never break out of the echo chamber and reach employers.
Pay enough for them to afford two kids, a house and a car without dual-income and don't have them work so many hours they can't enjoy them.
32 hour workweeks AND lower the overtime threshold to match. And that's just using my office job as a basis.
The threshold from part-time to full-time will also need to be lowered accordingly for grocery store/fast food type jobs.
And also pay us a fucking livable wage that's been adjusted for inflation and productivity gains over the years for fucks sake.
I just want to say that I work for an amazing boss in the UK as a software developer and a few months ago we all got pay rises and a reduction in hours. We now work 33 hours a week instead of 37.5. We get 4 weeks holiday and an extra day added after each year of work up to a total of 25 days (five weeks).
We can be sick without being moaned at and they truly do put us first and the work second. I’ve had a lot of jobs before I sorted my life out (like 50+) and I swear I have PTSD from the old ones in that I can’t believe how nice my boss is as every other have been for corpos who somehow manage to get some other poor idiot to treat you like shit whilst paying you minimum wage and expecting maximum effort.
You can see that having 50 jobs meant I was not really one to take the bullshit and I would just lose the job for giving them my thoughts.