News item: The United Auto Workers are demanding a 4-day work week, in which they would receive 40 hours of pay for 32 hours of work.
That’s a popular idea. It would be hard to find a worker in any profession who would oppose that. From what I can find out, most members of Congress are in favor. After all, these people routinely report for duty 3 days a week, and what do they have to show for it? During much of 2023, they have spent their mini-weeks failing to do Job #1, which is electing a Speaker of the House. So how would it look if they oppose a little down time for auto workers while they continue to arrive to the office later, leave earlier, and get very little done?
I have nothing against the 4-day work week, although I do wonder what my ancestors would say about it. Like many of you, my parents and grandparents would have scoffed at the notion. Farming was an every day, around the clock job. Baling the hay, milking the cows, picking the cotton, collecting the eggs, cleaning up the pens, feeding the animals, and harvesting the crops did not take off Friday through Sunday.
When I was growing up, everyone I knew worked at least 5 days a week. For many, like my father, a mere 40-hour week was a rare luxury. Much like many of us today, he had second jobs (or “side gigs”) to earn extra income.
Many of our parents worked their tails off to provide a better life for us, so that we wouldn’t have to work as hard as they did. Their efforts are much appreciated.
Admittedly, I’m an odd duck. When I was a teenager, I wanted to work as many days as possible. This statement is not as noble as it may seem.
My parents had a general merchandise store. For several years, beginning when I was 6 years old, the store was open 7 days a week. At some point, my dad became a slacker and started closing on Sundays. We became a Monday-Saturday operation from that day forward.
It was hard work for both of my parents. Dad handled the business end, drove 35 miles to Chattanooga each week to load (and then unload) the boxes of groceries. He stocked the shelves, mopped the floors, carried heavy bags of feed to customers’ cars, changed their oil and tires, and repaired their chainsaws. He did all this and more for 6 days a week until he retired.
My mom helped run the business and cleaned the house, cooked the meals, and supervised a kid. I pitched in just enough to realize that “store work” was hard. This was around the same time I realized that being on the radio was much more fun. Playing rock ‘n roll records while talking to girls on the phone was not as physically demanding and less greasy than doing oil changes.
So yes, I gladly accepted the challenge of “working” on the radio 7 days a week. I got paid for it, and gave me a good excuse to get out of the store. “Sorry, Pop. The radio station NEEDS me today. I’ll slave over a hot microphone for a few hours, and I’ll help you out when I get home.” What a fine son I was.
Six years later, I followed my dad’s lead, and began taking off on Sundays. I worked Monday through Saturday for a few years, and have since spent most of my career working weekdays only.
Many experts now say that the auto workers will likely get their 4-day work week request, and that it will be the norm for most workers in the near future.
Some schools in our region have already switched to a 4-day weekly schedule, with no apparent negative effects on learning. Full disclosure: I would have loved that as a kid.
In 1985, the country band Alabama scored a number one hit by singing, “You work a 40-hour week for a livin’ just to send it on down the line.”
“32 Hour Week” doesn’t flow quite as smoothly, but its time may have come.
