Interesting letter to the editor in the Times. The building trades that work at BP's Whiting Refinery agreed to go to a 4 day, 10 hours per day workweek.
BP did this because they were not getting enough work done in 8 hours. There's a lot of staging of work that occurs no matter how long or short the day is, as well as breaks, lunch, etc. The trades are more productive in 10 hours than in 8, even if they lose the work on the 5th day.
Some trades like the change, some don't. I've seen ironworkers protesting on Indianapolis Blvd. in front of the plant.
Myself, I would have mixed feelings about it. No doubt, having three day weekends all the time would be awesome. I almost forget I have a job on the Monday evening of a three day weekend. It is very relaxing.
But I'm not an early riser, and you almost have to get in at 6AM on 4-10's. Otherwise you're getting out of work way too late for things like little league games and other kid related stuff.
Finally, being sallaried, I often already put in 10s. It might not be that many more hours of work, in return for an extra day off. That's pretty cool.
I don't know how I'd feel if this applied to me. I sympathize with the trades, but on the other hand wonder if a lot of the guys like it.
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I wouldn't like it now. But that's due to my self-employment and self-determined schedule. However, when I was a working man I liked it.
And many of my clients work 4-10's in the summer and 5-8's in the winter and nearly everyone complains when they switch back to 8's in the winter.
Not sure how I'd feel if I were swinging a hammer or doing something physically tough, but I'd prefer the 4 - 10 hour days. There is a lot of unproductive froth involved with starting up and shutting down - including, but not limited to, getting dressed, driving to work, driving home from work, etc. Some times, I wonder if maybe just going hardcore and working like 2 20 hour (or, god forbid 1 40 hour) days would be the ticket.
Think about how much time its saving the guys in commuting. The trades generally live in Porter County, with at least an hour commute each way.
When I saw the pickets, I was pretty surprised. I'd have guessed that, while not everyone would want 4-10s, a lot would, and the union would be neutral about it as a result.
It was the Ironworkers protesting. I wonder if this guy is an ironworker. I can't say that their job is any harder than the pipefitters or boilermakers.
The comments to the story are very good.
Friend of mine in the People's Republic of Bloomington works at an office where they allowed 4x10 with a day off midweek to help employees save on fuel last year when the cost was so high. When fuel prices dropped most people went back to the 5x8 but some like their midweek break.
4x10 is a snap when you're doing TPS reports. Just gotta use the correct cover page.
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