councilor.org
| Source | Tom Walker |
| Date | 01/01/04/21:41 |
| Pocket Bulletin, Official Publication of the National Association of
Manufacturers, October 1926 The Five-Day-Work Week; Can It Become Universal? Presidents of Numerous Large Establishments Employing Hundreds of Thousands of Men in Various Lines of Manufacture, Declare Tendency to Less Work and More Pay Will Leave Us Wide Open for European Onslaught Will Henry Ford's five-day week, just put into operation in his plants, and now urged as ideal by labor leaders, be adopted generally by the industries of the country? It will not! For the following chief reasons: 1. It would greatly increase the cost of living. 2. It would increase wages generally by more than 15 per cent and decrease production. 3. It would be impracticable for all industries. 4. It would create a craving for additional luxuries to occupy the additional time. 5. It would mean a trend toward the Arena, Rome did that and Rome died. 6. It would be against the best interests of the men who want to work and advance. 7. It would be all right to meet a sales emergency but would not work out as a permanent thing. 8. It would make us more vulnerable to the economic onslaughts of Europe, now working as hard as she can to overcome our lead. These are some of the conclusions drawn by the presidents of some of the largest industrial concerns in the country, members of the National Association of Manufacturers and employing thousands of workers in various phases of industry. Mankind does not thrive on holidays. Idle hours breed mischief. The days are too short for the worthwhile men of the world to accomplish the tasks which they set themselves. No man has ever attained success in industry, in science, or in any other worthwhile activity of life by limiting his hours of labor. |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho