Monday morning

I write this on a dreary Monday morning. There is plenty of work to be done, but little enthusiam for it. The week stretches out long and onerous ahead, and five days look like eternity. Monday mornings often do this to me.

Interestingly, the 5 day week is a relatively recent phenomenon. Not too long ago, it was usual for people to go to office 6 days of the week. I wonder how people would stand Mondays then!! The history of the short work week is a violent one. Organized labour in countries like Britain, Australia, the US and Europe had to struggle long and hard for limiting the legal work day to 10 hours. Robert Owen (a Welsh socialist and social reformer), first proposed the 8 hour workday way back in 1817 (God bless his soul!!). He coined the slogan Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest. Due to his efforts, the working day came down to 12 hours, then 10 hours in different countries one at a time. However the idea took time to mature.

At its convention in Chicago in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions resolved that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labour from and after May 1, 1886, and that we recommend to labour organizations throughout this jurisdiction that they so direct their laws as to conform to this resolution by the time named."

There was a massive parade of 80,000 workers in Chicago on May 1, 1886, what is regarded as the first-ever modern May Day Parade, in support of the eight-hour day. In the next few days they were joined nationwide by 350,000 workers who went on strike at 1,200 factories, including 70,000 in Chicago, 45,000 in New York, 32,000 in Cincinnati, and additional thousands in other cities. Some workers gained shorter hours (eight or nine) with no reduction in pay; others accepted pay cuts with the reduction in hours.

The real impetus came, not surprisingly, from market forces and the father of capitalism.On January 5, 1914, the Ford Motor Company took the radical step of doubling pay to $5 a day, and cut shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day, moves that were not popular with rival companies, although seeing the increase in Ford's productivity, most soon followed suit.

France, of course, took the lead in legislating 35 hour work weeks, ironically enough, not out of any altruistic motives, but as a means to combat unemployment!! Most European countries have 40 hour work weeks, while the US has usually 50 hour work weeks. Of course, we in India have 65-70 hour work weeks on average (outside of Government service).

I hope this changes soon, and we move to 35 hour work weeks like our French brethren! For now, of course, this looks like a pipe dream. I'll settle with getting through Monday mornings :-(

Note: italicized portions of the post are courtesy Wikipedia