“For far too long, the lion’s share of the benefits from our increased efficiency has gone to the top, sidelining those who are at the very heart of this production. It’s time to level the playing field, ensuring that our workers directly benefit from these advancements by offering them improved working conditions and an enhanced quality of life.”
And how about the industries who have been maximally efficient this whole time making full use of 40+ hour weeks? Do they get the extra 25% pay boost?
There are plenty of studies proving people working less hours still do the same or even more and/or better work then those doing more hours. If pay was linked to efficiency gains over the last decades our pay would be considerably higher.
Instead we’re still stuck at back breaking jobs with long hours and get looked at funny for wanting to work less and live a little more by people thinking anyone working less than 40+ hours is slacking for no other reason than tradition.
Personally, I’d still work the same amount if I worked part time instead of full time. I just stare into the void for most of the day atm.
In these posts I mostly refer to truck drivers. At least in the US there hasn’t been much improvement in efficiency since it all works just the same as ever. Can’t move more in a truck than max gross, and yet it’s still 70 hours a week. It’s all based on the legal limits on time for drivers. 14 hours from when you start until you need to take 10 hours off. 11 of those hours can be spent driving. 70 hours in 8 days, or take 34 hours off and get them all back.
Truck drivers work this schedule and are payed not by the hour but by “production” ie miles driven. The more it costs to pay these drivers the more most things people consume will cost by proxy, so most people wouldn’t be happy if drivers got a decent pay bump.
If everyone else is working 32 hour weeks and truck drivers are working 70, drivers should quit and get an easier job for the same money. Once the trucking industry starts showing signs of collapse, maybe we’ll actually modernize our country’s rail system like we should’ve done decades ago. There are other alternatives to what we do now. It’s just not currently profitable for companies to do so. So force them to.
I mean this is just a reminder that the US is basically a third world country.
70 hours in 8 days is already illegal across the EU, as it violates:
- The working time directive. And
- Rules for handling heavy goods.
You can drive 90 hours every two weeks and that’s it. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/856360/simplified-guidance-eu-drivers-hours-working-time-rules.pdf
Then why do so many immigrants want to come to the US?
I believe the size of trucks and the load has increased over time = efficiency improved. Granted my reasoning doesn’t work for every field but I am always slightly annoyed when someone comes with an example were it doesn’t work as an excuse to shot down less working hours for everybody.
But your example is good in another way. In a not too distant future truck drivers might be replaced by self-driving trucks with probably a long time in between with assisted driving that still needs human oversight by a driver. I know the first thought is “but jobs” but that’s progress and change that has always been there. I don’t know about the US but in Europe the workforce is shrinking and we could use skilled and able people almost everywhere.
We’re a long way away from automated trucks. Additionally the amount hauled hasn’t changed in some 80 years.
There are predictions we’re going to see level 4 self driving vehicles this decade. But yes you’re right about the amount hauled.
But I’ve been thinking. The issue seems to be truckers are paid by the miles driven and try to squeeze in as much as legally possible. The obvious solution would be to change this.
The current issue in trucking has come about from constant connectivity. It used to be that drivers picked up a load then some time later delivered it. Now it’s tracked every second and if you’re late you get fined because they expect that load to get there in the exact amount of time they calculate that it’s possible. I’m outside of that kind of trucking but can absolutely understand the issues.
It’s called JIT (just in time).