United States | News & Politics

Something you should understand about the 4-day workweek.

From the studies conducted so far we know it seems to increase overall productivity. Which means companies, or at least some, would make more money if they implemented a 4-day workweek. So then you may ask yourself: why haven't they? Don't they want to make more money?

Not necessarily. It all comes down to relative wealth. A 4-day workweek would benefit them, but it would benefit regular people more. And so the divide in wealth/power/quality of life would shrink. So technically they'd be richer, but they'd feel poorer, because we'd get closer to their level, even if by just a bit.

that’s nice marketing for bernie but we all know that won’t happen. not without the kind of revolutionary action that inspired our 8 hour working day, and the original “labor day.”

employees in some sectors could easily make do with a 3 day work week, 4 hours per day, no payment reduction. all the rest is just surplus value being generated. however we know that the capitalists will never allow that, and that's the reason we need to, while pushing for work week reductions, agitate the working class today in order to build the revolution of tomorrow.

In fact, forget the AI

and if extruded proof of work was meaningful work, something interesting would have happened by now

if their little genies were real there'd be a good novel by now

they’ll all just convince us we need to purchase more, thereby lowering “productivity”

But who's going to make my fart and Trump dancing with Musk videos!??

All the productivity gains in the past have helped us reduced the work load so much, there's no reason AI shouldn't...
Wait, that never happened, only people forcefully getting reductions in work time have ever gotten results.

Also it's still not clear whether AI makes any sense or not. Yes, I know it is useful to some, but once you consider all the externalities (which nobody ever does, because "not my problem"), it might not be such a great deal.

*20 hour work week.

Bernie the sheepdog says a lot. Ask him to say GENOCIDE

Been having a 4 day workweek for a decade now, can heavily recommend it. (Work 4x9 hours, every Wednesday of)

I think the plan is to lay us off altogether.

Thw American workers productivity has gone astronomically high without AI. We should have 4 day week yes but we need the money from all this productivity first.

We are already more productive than any other time in history and we don't have a 4 day work week.

If we did get a 4 day work week, the owners would not scale our pay to accommodate for less hours on the job. 15/hr over 50 hours would turn into 15/hr over 40 hours, not 18.75/hr over 40 hours.

I recall one of the ways to enforce a 4 day workweek was to enforce OT starting at 32 hours.

You could keep working 40+ hrs a week but it would hit the owners wallets.

Combine that with raising minimum wage and you're getting closer to UBI.

Neither one would help me I think being salary and around medium working class.

Corporate will do anything but. Part time pay, no full time benefits, no pay raise, and now you need a second job.

Bernie always has terrible solutions to his valid criticisms of oligarchism. It should be illegal to work 5 days? Or more hours no matter the pay?

UBI is only empowering of people solution to US empire/oligarchism. Work as much as you want, with the power to say fuck you if conditions are not good enough for you. Cheer on AI/Robot productivity gains as it increases your UBI.

He doesn't get it at all. AI making people more productive means they can work more and you don't have to pay them as much.

Sincerely, billionaires

😒

Improved efficiencies should mean we all benefit across all sectors and ways of life.

But improved efficiencies actually mean none of us benefit except those at the top. We should all of us be paid more, have more time off, and have more excess - but at a high level we are all paid no extra, we get no extra time off, we get no excess - that all gets enjoyed by those at the top.

This is one of many reasons this should be a class war, not a culture war.

I don't disagree. Few people are better positioned to help make that a reality, however.