Shorter Work Week

Archive Report

Economic comdition and hours of work

A relative scarcity of job opportunities, since the economy receded from the boom peaks touched in mid-1953, has sparked a revival of labor demands for a shorter basic work-week. Agitation for a 35-hour, even a 30-hour, week is certain to become insistent, irrespective of business conditions, if technological advances fufill current promises of drastically cutting down the need for human labor in many industrial, agricultural, and other operations.

The American Federation of Labor, at its annual convention last September, called for revision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 35 hours; the A.F.L. resolution also set 30 hours a week as the ultimate goal. Although the C.I.O. is not expected to ...

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