Poland does away with the 8-hour day

[Zukunftsmusik]

http://libcom.org/news/poland-does-away-8-hour-day-15062013

Didn't see any threads about this.

[MarxArchist]

The more they attack labor the more chance the sleeping beast will awaken. Hopefully some boiling frog scenario won't take place as capital (globally) fends off the falling rate of profit.


gEMdJyY-1K0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog)

[RadioRaheem84]

I don't know. The eight hour day has been slowly eroding in the US too. We keep hoping for this miraculous turn around where the people will wake up but capitalism is very resilient and has an apparatus that can make any inherent contradiction seem like a natural occurrence that you cannot change or a figment of your whiny lazy mind. There's always some expert to tell you that you're experiences in capitalism and how you view life through it are a myth that must be reconciled with Econ 101. But contrary to popular belief economics is not a value free science and with it comes a host of presuppositions economists love to exert as natural law.

[Paul Pott]

So where is that great defender of workers' rights Solidarinosc, or its modern offshoots?

[Klaatu]

The article link is about employers forcing workers to work longer than 8 hours.

I have the opposite problem: my employer will not allow me to work more than 25 hours per week. How are people supposed to rise above poverty if they are limited to less than a 40 hour week?

Conversely, how are parents supposed to spend time with their families, if required to work too many hours? Usually, the politicians that are forcing these changes, are the same ones that tout "family values." So how can we watch over our children, (let alone raise them,) if we are not there? (so much for 'family values')

By law, people should be allowed to work as many hours as (or as few as) they want to.

[tuwix]

http://libcom.org/news/poland-does-away-8-hour-day-15062013

Didn't see any threads about this.

The article is more emotional than factional. In fact, there is proceeded in parliament a legal act that allows to work more than 8 hours per day without compansation, but the hour of overtime must be given out in some period (I don't remember is it year or half). And against it the major labor unions (Solidarność, OPZZ) are planning general strike in september.

But to be honest, people in Poland especially white collars are working overtime without any compensation from time when classic capitalism has returned. The labor rights are infringed constantly and frequently labor code is just fiction. But it happened due to unemployment. And jobless is the greatest problem of Poland and not slight changes in Labor Code as it is stated in article.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I don't know. The eight hour day has been slowly eroding in the US too. We keep hoping for this miraculous turn around where the people will wake up but capitalism is very resilient and has an apparatus that can make any inherent contradiction seem like a natural occurrence that you cannot change or a figment of your whiny lazy mind. There's always some expert to tell you that you're experiences in capitalism and how you view life through it are a myth that must be reconciled with Econ 101. But contrary to popular belief economics is not a value free science and with it comes a host of presuppositions economists love to exert as natural law.

White collar workers have voluntarily given up their 40 hour week, because it finally justifies their tech purchases. No one needed a fucking smart phone, but once they had it, they had to come up with an excuse as to why they bought it and the ridiculous data plan that came with it. So they add their work email to it and bam, you've just volunteered to become an always on call employee, without any of the benefits that normally accompany that kind of position. A very clever strategy all around.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

The article link is about employers forcing workers to work longer than 8 hours.

I have the opposite problem: my employer will not allow me to work more than 25 hours per week. How are people supposed to rise above poverty if they are limited to less than a 40 hour week?

Conversely, how are parents supposed to spend time with their families, if required to work too many hours? Usually, the politicians that are forcing these changes, are the same ones that tout "family values." So how can we watch over our children, (let alone raise them,) if we are not there? (so much for 'family values')

By law, people should be allowed to work as many hours as (or as few as) they want to.
That's less of a criticism of the low number of hours people work (or the large number they are forced to work) and more a criticism of shit wages.

[The Jay]

The article link is about employers forcing workers to work longer than 8 hours.

I have the opposite problem: my employer will not allow me to work more than 25 hours per week. How are people supposed to rise above poverty if they are limited to less than a 40 hour week?

Conversely, how are parents supposed to spend time with their families, if required to work too many hours? Usually, the politicians that are forcing these changes, are the same ones that tout "family values." So how can we watch over our children, (let alone raise them,) if we are not there? (so much for 'family values')

By law, people should be allowed to work as many hours as (or as few as) they want to.

I think so too. If there were to be cuts in hours based upon a capitalist's decision they wouldn't even have to fire anyone. All they would have to do is to lower everyone's hours by a few percent. That way people would be less likely to be laid off. This is kind of tangential though.

[Q]

It's considered normal for my job that I'm at work for 8.5 hours (half an hour for unpaid lunch) and the fact that I travel 2 hours from/to work each day doesn't seem to bother many either. They're constantly niblling away at breaktimes and stuff as well, trying to introduce flexible shifts (so your shift times change each day), introduced flexible workspaces (so you can't fraternize too much with your colleagues), etc, etc. On the other hand, the basic responses to all this is a day-to-day guerrilla struggle against each step, work very inefficient or too 'efficient' to frustrate any of these changes as much as possible.

But this is a state of weakness and it is hard to actually join forces and reverse these changes. Once implemented, there is no (easy) way back. This is of course where politics comes in, as an external force, outside the workplace boss-worker environment. But I digress.

[Manar]

It's called "anti-stalinism".

[Klaatu]

That's less of a criticism of the low number of hours people work (or the large number they are forced to work) and more a criticism of shit wages.

Then again, every wage level can suffer from forced low hours, and it seems that many higher-wage earners are so limited. For example, my wife works at a unionized retail store. They are paid well per hour, but they only are allowed to work a few hours - fine if she was a student, but not fine if we were trying to raise a family, pay rent, etc. And like I said, how are people going to get off welfare if they are paid (like you said) "shit wages?"

The (right wing) politicians that are trying to cut minimum wage and welfare (most folks on welfare actually have low-paying jobs) just don't get it ... people must make at least a living wage in order to make it on their own!

Of course, some people are forced to work too many hours, and I think this is a violation of their freedom.