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  • September 25, 1926

    From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 25 21:22:31 2023
    September 25, 1926: Henry Ford implemented an 8 hour work day and 5
    day work week at Ford Motor Company. Prior to this, it was common to
    work 100+ hours and six days a week. Ford also doubled salaries of all
    his workers, with the expectation that productivity would increase
    despite the shorter week. He was correct, and many of his suppliers
    followed suit. Later, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established
    similar work standards on a national scale.

    https://twitter.com/HistoryNutOTD/status/1706304949137609058

    FWIW, working 6 days a week (48 hours) was common in my younger years.
    That 8 hours of overtime was needed for a living blue collar wage.
    Saturday night, people went downtown and shopped....before Kmart/etc.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Sep 26 10:44:24 2023
    On Mon, 25 Sep 2023 21:22:31 -0500
    JAB <[email protected]d> wrote:

    September 25, 1926: Henry Ford implemented an 8 hour work day and 5
    day work week at Ford Motor Company. Prior to this, it was common to
    work 100+ hours and six days a week. Ford also doubled salaries of all
    his workers, with the expectation that productivity would increase
    despite the shorter week. He was correct, and many of his suppliers

    He also desperately needed the workers, sales were rocketing. And a lot of
    the extra money went into ... saving up for a Ford motorcar, so a lot of
    the money came back.

    followed suit. Later, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established similar work standards on a national scale.

    https://twitter.com/HistoryNutOTD/status/1706304949137609058

    FWIW, working 6 days a week (48 hours) was common in my younger years.
    That 8 hours of overtime was needed for a living blue collar wage.
    Saturday night, people went downtown and shopped....before Kmart/etc.

    Ah that American Dream.

    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Tue Sep 26 05:26:37 2023
    On Tue, 26 Sep 2023 10:44:24 +0100, "Kerr-Mudd, John"
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    Prior to this, it was common to work 100+ hours and six days a week.
    Ford also doubled salaries of all his workers, with the expectation that >>productivity would increase despite the shorter week.

    He also desperately needed the workers, sales were rocketing. And a lot of >the extra money went into ... saving up for a Ford motorcar, so a lot of
    the money came back.

    Apparently, this lesson is not taught in MBA schools. And in Dodge v.
    Ford Motor Company, 204 Mich. 459, 170 N.W. 668, "the Michigan Supreme
    Court held that Henry Ford had to operate the Ford Motor Company in
    the interests of its shareholders, rather than in a manner for the
    benefit of his employees or customers."

    As Ford said,

    "My ambition is to employ still more men, to spread the benefits of
    this industrial system to the greatest possible number, to help them
    build up their lives and their homes. To do this we are putting the
    greatest share of our profits back in the business."


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From rdh@21:1/5 to JAB on Tue Sep 26 13:01:10 2023
    On 9/26/23 05:26, JAB wrote:
    Apparently, this lesson is not taught in MBA schools. And in Dodge v.
    Ford Motor Company, 204 Mich. 459, 170 N.W. 668, "the Michigan Supreme
    Court held that Henry Ford had to operate the Ford Motor Company in
    the interests of its shareholders, rather than in a manner for the
    benefit of his employees or customers."

    It's not taught in MBA schools because it requires thinking about more
    than just the next quarterly profit report.

    --
    ~rdh

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)