
How 8-hour work day originated (2013) - mp77
https://blog.bufferapp.com/optimal-work-time-how-long-should-we-work-every-day-the-science-of-mental-strength
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pitiburi
Nice article, but misinformed. " It’s purely the a century old norm for
running factories most efficiently.", based on the Ford adopt of the norm in
1914. That is borderline ridiculous: what they id was go from 9 hours to 8 but
with DOUBLING the wages. What do you think was the reason for the improvement
in productivity?

In the USA, in Illinois you have a law for 8 hours (with loopholes) at 1867!
Chicago saw that year a whole week of workers strike trying to get that. In
the next 20 years, lots of cities and professions got the 8 hours. And in
1886, see what happened in May Day and in the following Haymarket Riot.

The real reason for the 8 hours is the anarchist push for a more human
treatment of workers'life. Those working class anarchist masses in Europe went
to North and South America in numbers, and started there a very strong push
for workers organizations, shaping some countries cultural shape up to this
day. THAT is the real push for the 8 hours, those are the real reasons, in a
history that most of the world knows but in the USA is still neglected and
hidden. So, seen an article about the genius of Ford for the 8 hours in 1914
is sad. What he did was doubling the wages, and got an improvement in
productivity. The 8 hours has a rich, hard fought and tragic history that is
more than 50 years older, and which was usually drowned in blood by those same
industrial tycoons.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-
hour_day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day)

