There have been no reductions in the average U.S. work week in the more than sixty years since the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed.

Indeed, working hours have been held steady only by the rapid growth of part-time, low-paid work - the proportion of workers putting in more than 48 hours a week on the job has been steadily increasing since 1948.

The long hours we are putting in on the job have serious consequences for our health, for our fellow workers forced onto unemployment lines, and for our ability to lead the rich, fulfilling lives that should be ours by right. Our lives should not be dominated by drudgery and toil, slaving away for endless hours to make our masters rich. Sixty years of stagnation is long enough - it's time to resume the fight for shorter hours.

If you would like to get involved in this campaign, contact one of the IWW branches from our directory page.

The Campaign for a Shorter Work Week

The campaign for a shorter work week is as old as the labor movement itself, however in recent years it has been all but forgotten. This web site features articles about both historical and contemporary campaigns in favor of a shorter work week.

Contemporary

• Importance of French Workers' Struggle to Keep 35 Hour Week Shouldn't be Underestimated - By Richard Mellor, Labor's Militant Voice, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005.
• More Time For Life - (PDF File) A shorter work time supplement to the October 2003 issue of the Industrial Worker.
• Will We Lose the 8-hour Day?, Congress considers 80-hour weeks while Labor Department guts overtime rules - featured in the April 2003 Industrial Worker.
• Shorter Workweek News, #22 - Newsletter of the Shorter Work Week Network, February 22, 2003.
• Less Time for Work, More Time for Life! - featured in the June 2002 Industrial Worker.

Arguments and Statements in Favor of a Shorter Work Week

This section is provided for those of you seeking additional information. The resources cited are not necessarily written by members of the IWW nor do they necessarily represent the views of the Industrial Workers of the World or any of its members

• Cut Down The Hours Of Work! - By the IWW, ca. 1923.
  
• Arguments for a Four-Hour Day - By Jon Bekken, published by the Boston General Membership Branch of the IWW, © July 2000.
• Kellogg's Six-Hour Day - By Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt, published by Temple University Press, Phildelphia, © 1996
• What Ever Happened to the Eight Hour Day? - By Arthur J Miller.
• Time Out! - The Case for a Shorter Work Week - By Kim Moody & Mary McGinn, published by Labor Notes, © 1995.
• The Overworked American - By Juliet B. Schor, published by Basic Books, © 1992.
• Longer Hours, Fewer Jobs - Employment and Unemployment in the United States - By Michael D Yates, published by Monthley Review Press, New York, © 1994.