Lot of shoulds, oughts, etc. How about this: do whatever you want. Nothing is stopping you from setting up a 3 day workweek co-op. More power to any group that wants to. There are a number out there already. But it's worth considering why it hasn't totally taken over "naturally".

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tsimionescu 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is absurdly ahistorical. Corporations take as much as they can. If there were no law limiting work to 40 hours / week, they would demand far more - as they had before massive workers' protests forced the current limits.

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losvedir an hour ago | parent [-]

All the more reason people would prefer to work for a co-op, no? I really don't know why there aren't more co-ops, and am inferring they just don't work all that well. But if there are any regulations or something preventing them from succeeding, I'd love to know about it.

Also, I guess it's worth noting I've been "exempt" all my life (not subject to 40 hours a week), so that particular labor win I guess didn't really cross my mind.

	▲	squibonpig an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		If everyone has 40 hours a week + overtime and you have a coop that pays competitively for 24 hours a week and no overtime you won't get as much market share, can be outcompeted. It has to be done on a large scale, historically as a matter of policy. This was true for tons of different reductions in the workday and other labor rights improvements in the past.
	▲	card_zero an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		They can't strategize and adapt very quickly, because of all the cooperating.

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anonymars 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How did the 40-hour workweek come about?

(Certainly not "naturally")

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farnell 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Labor unions and henry ford

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bigiain 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Unions.

	▲	baylisscg 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		More completely the 8 hour work day movement. Loosely, 8hrs each for work, sleep, and everything else with everything else often being called recreation. Add in a 5 day work week and 40hrs. There's monument in Melbourne commemorating stonemasons winning an 8 hour work day in 1856 but they were working 6 days a week.
	▲	antisthenes an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		More specifically than Unions, it was the threat of violence (in extreme cases) and work stoppage by workers against the ownership class. E.g. the Russian Revolution (one of the main workers' requests in the events leading up to the Revolution was the 40 hour work week and fair treatment). The unions were just a symptom to mediate the threat of violence in exchange for a larger share of the added value generated by the worker.

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xg15 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You can ask that question in the opposite way too: Why does the weekend still exist? Why aren't people working 24/7?

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throwaway-11-1 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Labor has been completely defeated in the US. Capital sets the terms and has captured the political class. You know this but are using deflection to put blame on individuals who don’t actually hold power. Management can offshore anytime workers present a challenge.

	▲	azan_ 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		What are you talking about? Minimum wage has nowadays a lot wider coverage and many unions have absurd privileges and compensations (e.g. docking unions) for which entire society has to pay. Even recently NYC hotel keepers have managed to negotiate 6 figure salary. There's lots of doomerism that doesn't really hold up when confronted with actual evidence lately.