<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p>This article asks what lessons can be learned from the introduction of the 35-hour week for the current debate in the steel industry. In retrospect, it can be shown that a compromise in collective bargaining policy cleared the way from the 40- to the 35-hour week. A package of shorter and more flexible working hours could also make the 32-hour week possible in the steel industry in a similarly cost- and distribution-neutral way, especially as large sections of the workforce there already work less than 35 hours.</p>
</abstract>

This article asks what lessons can be learned from the introduction of the 35-hour week for the current debate in the steel industry. In retrospect, it can be shown that a compromise in collective bargaining policy cleared the way from the 40- to the 35-hour week. A package of shorter and more flexible working hours could also make the 32-hour week possible in the steel industry in a similarly cost- and distribution-neutral way, especially as large sections of the workforce there already work less than 35 hours.

What Lessons Can Previous Reductions in Working Hours Teach for the Debate on the 32-Hour Week?

Wirtschaftsdienst

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Was können frühere Arbeitszeitverkürzungen für die Debatte um die 32-Stunden-Woche lehren?

This article asks what lessons can be learned from the introduction of the 35-hour week for the current debate in the steel industry. In retrospect, it can be...

What Lessons Can Previous Reductions in Working Hours Teach for the Debate on the 32-Hour Week?

Published Online: Oct 26, 2023

Page range: 716 - 718

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wd-2023-0195

© 2023 Hartmut Seifert, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.