32-hour Working Week?

Negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler and Jeep, are underway.

32-hour Working Week?

Negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler and Jeep, are underway.

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Ilustracija: Shutterstock/Reshetnikov_art Ilustracija: Shutterstock/Reshetnikov_art

According to unofficial reports, negotiations began without the participation of operational director, Mark Stuart from Stellantis, who, instead of meeting with UAW leadership, decided to send a letter from his second home in Mexico to advocate for an agreement based on "economic realism," as reported by the Mašina (Machine) portal.

Sean Fein, the new president of the largest union in America, advocates for significant wage increases and the elimination of the multi-tier employment system for workers in the American auto industry. In his public appearances, he emphasizes the importance of leisure time, as discussed by Aleks N. Press on the Jacobin portal.

"We have to work more to maintain the same standard of living," Fein told UAW members ahead of negotiations with Stellantis. He reminded them that wages have stagnated for years and that for some when factoring in inflation, wages are even lower than they were in 2007.

"This means we spend more time working and less time living life. It means missing our children's games and family celebrations. It means being in nature less, traveling less, not having time to pursue our passions and engage in what fulfills us," Fein said.

Therefore, the new UAW president believes it's necessary to reduce working hours. Sean Fein effectively advocates for a 32-hour workweek. He said his goal is for the UAW to fight for a 40-hour workweek from Monday to Friday, with one paid day off for each worker. Overtime provisions would apply, but only after thirty-two hours of work.

Fein encountered the idea of a shorter workweek in old union magazines. As the new UAW president explains, he was drawn to the idea when he was reviewing old issues of the Solidarnost (Solidarity) union magazine. In editions from the 1930s and 1940s, UAW members advocated for 35, and even 32, hours of work per week. Such ambitions sharply contrast with the previous leadership of the union, which had agreed to work schedules allowing employers to demand seven days of work a week, twelve hours a day.

In one of his addresses to members, Fein described human time as the "greatest resource in this world," noting that while each of us has a limited amount of time, much of it is spent at work, often doing something for someone else's profit that we wouldn't otherwise choose.
During a strike preparation conference, Fein stressed the necessity of fighting for leisure time.

"If we don't lead this fight, if we don't have this conversation, no one will. We must change the narrative. It's our union duty, it's leadership's duty, and it's what we intend to do."

Sean Fein is not the lone voice advocating for reduced working hours. Previously, Senator Mark Takano introduced legislation in the US that would enable a four-day workweek. There is also a growing body of research and pilot projects showing that a shorter workweek is on the rise worldwide, and the effects achieved with reduced working hours are positive for both workers and employers.

The topic of reducing the workweek is also being increasingly discussed in Serbia. Several trial periods and experiences of companies that have shortened the workweek have led to several models that everyone can adapt to their needs.