A year that started out with bleak prospects, including a widely predicted recession, shaped up to be a boon for the average American worker — and one of the most triumphant for organized labor in a generation.
More than 525,000 workers in the United States walked off the job in 2023, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of work stoppages, making it one of the three biggest strike years since 1990. Many of those strikes led to big concessions from employers, such as the landmark deal reached by the UAW in October.
It’s not enough
Certainly not.
The failure of Starbucks and Amazon workers is truly frustrating, as is the continued confused, nervous chuckles that even wage workers have when a 4-day work week is discussed.
That said, having a president actually supports unions has been very good for us. I’ve lived through Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. None of them backed workers the way Biden has.
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This is what I’m talking about. When I say we should be working four days a week, my co-workers immediately respond “I don’t want to work 4 tens.” Then I say 4 eights and they say “I don’t want to earn less” and “we’d lose our benefits” then I say same pay, same benefits and their brains drip out of their ears. They act as if paying them the same amount for less work is somehow unethical. It’s maddening.
It isn’t that it’s unethical, but that it doesn’t make sense to do from a business perspective at first glance.
The only reason to do this, from a business view, is to maximize productivity and retention via improving work-life balance. Neither of those concepts is straightforward. If you haven’t read up on it, I’d understand not getting it.
Also worth noting the 32-hour week absolutely leaves out blue collar people. There’s no way manufacturing, farming, etc can get by at same costs with that structure. It’s service sector jobs only.
Or they just hire 5 people instead of 4. Or another part time/seasonal person.
How does it benefit everyone?
Don’t get me wrong, I would also love a 4 day work week. But I’d prefer 40 hours rather than getting 80% of my pay.