Work is the effort directed to an end. Work as employment is done in exchange for money paid as wages or salaries, the work product generally becomes the undifferentiated property of the employer. Work done as self-employment is labor done independently for one’s own business.
Hebrew thinking saw work as part of worship. There was no distinction between working with one's hands and any other form of labor. All work had equal dignity before God and should be used to please him.
The Ancient Greeks lived for leisure. They believed that work (especially manual work) was degrading, and so wherever possible they used slaves to do it for them.
HISTORY
Hebrew thinking saw work as part of worship. There was no distinction between working with one's hands and any other form of labor. All work had equal dignity before God and should be used to please him.
The Ancient Greeks lived for leisure. They believed that work (especially manual work) was degrading, and so wherever possible they used slaves to do it for them.
Before the advent of steam-powered machines and factories, work was a much more haphazard affair. The idea of being yoked to one particular employer to the exclusion of all other money-making activity was unknown. The work pattern was one of alternate bouts of intense labor and of idleness. On a rainy day a weaver, for instance might weave eight or nine yards. On other days he might weave just two yards before writing a letter, go cherry picking, or go and watch a public hanging.
When in the 18th century the spinning jenny was invented by the weaver and carpenter James Hargreaves and the steam engine by James Watt it kick-started the Industrial Revolution.
The factory system is the basis of manufacturing in the modern world. In the factory system workers are employed at a place where they carry out specific tasks, which together result in a product. Richard Arkwright pioneered the system in England in 1771, when he set up a cotton spinning factory.
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| Carding, roving, and drawing in a Manchester cotton mill c. 1834 |
People worked long house during the early decades of the Industrial Revolution. In the industrial north of England, chimneys belched smoke and the mills started up at 5.30 on a Monday morning with an all too powerful boom. The child workers started their shift at 5.00 in the morning with half an hour for breakfast, half an hour for lunch and leave at 6.00 in the evening as the night-shift children arrive. It was the job of the knocker-uppers to go round the northern mill towns at dawn, banging on bedroom windows with long poles to wake the workers for the early shift.
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| A young "drawer" pulling a coal tub along a mine gallery |
When workers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rioted over working conditions in early 1834, the government of Maryland pleaded with President Andrew Jackson for federal assistance, hastily interpreting the matter as a rebellion against the state’s civil authority. He responded on January 29, 1834 by calling his secretary of war to order sufficient military resources to "put down the riotous assembly." This was America’s first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
During the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were given construction jobs, so they could earn food rather than receive it as a handout. However, to avoid taking jobs from other workers, these people built useless projects, like roads in the middle of nowhere, and piers in the middle of bogs.
The Scottish 19th century social commentator Thomas Carlyle promoted the notion of the dignity or even the romance of hard work- the Victorian or Protestant work ethic. He wrote: "Man was created to work, not to speculate, or feel or dream… Every idle moment is treason."
A Message to Garcia is a widely distributed essay on labor relations written by Elbert Hubbard in 1899. It expresses the value of individual initiative and conscientiousness in work. In 1914, Hubbard claimed the essay had been reprinted over forty million times. However, this seems to have been exaggerated; in their 1977 survey of best sellers, Alice Hackett and James H Burke estimated a circulation of four million.
The phrase "to carry a message to Garcia" was in common use for years to indicate taking initiative when carrying out a difficult assignment. Richard Nixon can be heard using it on the Watergate tapes during conversations with Henry Kissinger and John Ehrlichman.
At the turn of the 20th century, the average American worker earned twenty-two cents an hour.
Booker T Washington, the black American writer, originated the phrase "dignity of labor" when he wrote in his 1901 autobiography Up From Slavery "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem".
The first five-day work week in the United States was instituted by a New England cotton mill in 1908 to afford Jewish workers the ability to adhere to the Sabbath.
The phrase "to carry a message to Garcia" was in common use for years to indicate taking initiative when carrying out a difficult assignment. Richard Nixon can be heard using it on the Watergate tapes during conversations with Henry Kissinger and John Ehrlichman.
At the turn of the 20th century, the average American worker earned twenty-two cents an hour.
Booker T Washington, the black American writer, originated the phrase "dignity of labor" when he wrote in his 1901 autobiography Up From Slavery "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem".
The first five-day work week in the United States was instituted by a New England cotton mill in 1908 to afford Jewish workers the ability to adhere to the Sabbath.
The first 40-hour work week was in 1916 at factories in Western New York
37-year-old Arthur Conway was the first man in Britain to be publicly labelled ‘work-shy' by the state. In a case brought by the National Assistance Board, he was jailed for three months on April 14, 1950 for failing to maintain himself, his wife and three children.
The Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Act came into force in the United Kingdom on December 29, 1975. It meant companies could not advertise jobs as being exclusively for men or women — with firemen renamed as firefighters.
The eight hour workday was devised so that workers could evenly divide twenty four hours between: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
37-year-old Arthur Conway was the first man in Britain to be publicly labelled ‘work-shy' by the state. In a case brought by the National Assistance Board, he was jailed for three months on April 14, 1950 for failing to maintain himself, his wife and three children.
The Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Act came into force in the United Kingdom on December 29, 1975. It meant companies could not advertise jobs as being exclusively for men or women — with firemen renamed as firefighters.
EIGHT HOUR DAY
The eight hour workday was devised so that workers could evenly divide twenty four hours between: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
The first country to legally adopt an eight-hour working day was Spain. In 1593, King Philip II of Spain issued a decree that limited the workday to eight hours for factory and fortification workers. This was a groundbreaking development at the time, as most workers were accustomed to working much longer hours.
Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) raised the demand for a ten-hour day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer Robert Owen (May 14, 1771 – November 17, 1858) raised the demand for a ten-hour day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
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| Robert Owen |
The eight-hour workday was not widely adopted until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the United States, the eight-hour workday was first adopted by the federal government in 1868 for its own employees. However, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the eight-hour workday became the norm for most American workers.
Uruguay made significant advancements in workers' rights, particularly during the presidency of José Batlle y Ordóñez (1903-1907, 1911-1915). Batlle was a progressive reformer who believed in the importance of social justice and the well-being of the working class. In 1915, Batlle signed into law a bill that established an eight-hour workday for all workers. This was a major breakthrough, as it was one of the first countries in the world to adopt such a policy.
"9 to 5" is a song written and performed by Dolly Parton, which was released in 1980. The song was the title track for the movie of the same name, in which Parton starred as a secretary named Doralee Rhodes. The song and the film were both rooted in the 9to5 movement, which was a grassroots campaign for workplace rights for secretaries and other working women in the 1970s. The movement sought to improve working conditions, pay and job security for women in the workplace. The song "9 to 5" reflects the struggles and challenges faced by working women and became an anthem for the movement.
Sweatshop (or sweat factory) is a pejorative term for a workplace that has very poor, socially unacceptable working conditions. The term sweatshop was coined in Charles Kingsley's Cheap Clothes and Nasty (1850) describing such workplaces create "sweating system" of workers.
Most Multi-international garment corporations sub contract out the manufacturing of their products to third world companies who are guilty of exploiting their workers in many different ways. For instance the majority of garment workers in Bangladesh earn little more than the minimum wage, set at 3,000 taka a month (approximately $35.5 or £25). That is far below what is considered a living wage, calculated at 5,000 taka a month (approximately $59 or £45), which would be the minimum required to provide a family with shelter, food and education.
Bangladesh garment workers work long 13 to 15 hour days and sometimes more before a shipment is due to go out. No trade unions are allowed; anyone protesting in however mild a manner is sacked on the spot.
Bangladesh workers work 6 to 7 days a week with no maternity leave for women. They work in subhuman conditions on dangerous machines making fashion apparel for their rich western customers. The disease-ridden sweatshop factories are under different names, as the multi-national company would be embarrassed to be associated with such restricted working practices.
Back in 1965 a Senate subcommittee predicted that we'd enjoy two hour work weeks by the year 2000. However, In 1991, the average American worker put in 163 more hours on the job than in 1973, according to the sociologist Juliet Schor, the author of The Overworked American.
The world's largest employer is The United States Department of Defense (with 3 million employees)
SWEATSHOPS
Sweatshop (or sweat factory) is a pejorative term for a workplace that has very poor, socially unacceptable working conditions. The term sweatshop was coined in Charles Kingsley's Cheap Clothes and Nasty (1850) describing such workplaces create "sweating system" of workers.
Most Multi-international garment corporations sub contract out the manufacturing of their products to third world companies who are guilty of exploiting their workers in many different ways. For instance the majority of garment workers in Bangladesh earn little more than the minimum wage, set at 3,000 taka a month (approximately $35.5 or £25). That is far below what is considered a living wage, calculated at 5,000 taka a month (approximately $59 or £45), which would be the minimum required to provide a family with shelter, food and education.
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| By marissaorton - Sweatshop projectUploaded by Gary Dee, |
Bangladesh garment workers work long 13 to 15 hour days and sometimes more before a shipment is due to go out. No trade unions are allowed; anyone protesting in however mild a manner is sacked on the spot.
Bangladesh workers work 6 to 7 days a week with no maternity leave for women. They work in subhuman conditions on dangerous machines making fashion apparel for their rich western customers. The disease-ridden sweatshop factories are under different names, as the multi-national company would be embarrassed to be associated with such restricted working practices.
FUN WORK FACTS
Back in 1965 a Senate subcommittee predicted that we'd enjoy two hour work weeks by the year 2000. However, In 1991, the average American worker put in 163 more hours on the job than in 1973, according to the sociologist Juliet Schor, the author of The Overworked American.
The world's largest employer is The United States Department of Defense (with 3 million employees)
Every day, 130 million Americans report for work, but 12 do not return home because they were killed on the job.
The average U.S. worker stays at each of its jobs for 4.4 years.
37% of job applications are submitted on Tuesday, more than any other day, because people hate their job most when they have to return to work on Monday.
In France, there is a legal limit to the number of working days per year for employees, which is currently set at 218 days. This is based on the "annual working time" regulations set out in French labor law. This means that an employee's working time including overtime, should not exceed this amount in a year. Employers must respect this legal limit, unless they have obtained a specific agreement with employees' representatives or the employees themselves.
In today's world, the average job seeker is rejected 24 times before getting hired.
A full-time employee in the U.S. will spend about 80,000 hours at work over the course of a lifetime.
Ergasiophobia is the fear of work.
In today's world, the average job seeker is rejected 24 times before getting hired.
A full-time employee in the U.S. will spend about 80,000 hours at work over the course of a lifetime.
Ergasiophobia is the fear of work.
The common Chinese working hour system, "996", is a requirement to work from 9 am to 9 pm for 6 days a week. This grueling schedule has drawn significant criticism for its negative impact on employees' physical and mental health, as well as work-life balance.
The Japanese term "Karoshi" refers to death by overworking.
Logging, fishing, and aircraft piloting/flight engineering are the top three most dangerous jobs in America, while law enforcement and firefighting are ranked 15th on the list.
Taxi drivers are more than twice as likely to be murdered on the job than law enforcement personnel.
In a 2019 Gallup poll, Americans rated the honesty and ethics of different professions: Nurses (85%) at the top for the 18th year in a row, followed by Engineers (66%) and Medical Doctors (65%); and Car salespeople (9%) at the bottom, just under Members of Congress (12%) and Senators (13%).
In China, "White monkey" jobs are when Caucasian foreigners are hired to stand around and pretend to be an employee of the Chinese company or representative of a international company to increase the value of the Chinese company.
In 2013 Swabhiman Sanghatana, headed by Nitesh Narayan Rane, set a Guinness World Record by conducting a job fair which gave over 25,000 jobs to unemployed youths.
Sources How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson, Tenthamendmentcenter
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