On 2012-02-04, at 10:22 AM, Jim Farmelant wrote:
> Increasing productivity under
> capitalism has, by and large, not brought about any
> vast increase in free time. In fact, rather the contrary.
> Increased productivity has, instead of leading towards
> ever increasing free time, lead to simply increased
> production, and hence towards ever increasing
> consumption, which workers finance by working
> longer hours (when they can find employment).
But as you well know, Jim, there WAS a progressive reduction of working hours throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Like so much else, it seems to me the reversal of that historic trend has to be seen within the context of the rise and decline of the industrial unions, who drove the reduction in work time.
The advent of the service economy and advanced technology has made it easier for employers to organize production outside normal working hours and off the work site, and, as a consequence, more difficult to enforce formal working hours contained in state legislation or union contracts. As more than a few here may know from personal experience, there is a lot more unpaid overtime being logged by ever larger numbers of employees whose work requires the use of computers and cell phones. Although our union had negotiated a 37 1/2 hour week, we had a hell of a time persuading the union's professional and technical employees to claim overtime, call back, standby, and other forms of premium pay when they were obliged to extend their normal work day. White collar employees have been conditioned by the culture of the modern office to expect to work long hours, including at home, and that to demand extra pay for it is "unprofessional".
Of course, hours of work also correspond to the ups and downs of the business cycle, and many workers are having to moonlight to maintain their overall living standards as their incomes are progressively squeezed, but, even discounting for these factors, I don't think we can disregard the increased operational flexibility the service economy has given employers to implement an informal increase in work time and to prevent the weakened union movement from blocking it.
At one time, demand for the 35, 32, or even the 30 hour week with no loss in pay were seen as realizable medium- or long-term goals by the trade unions. Now these demands are for the most part treated as utopian and raised in only the most rarified circles.