Long hours are not just imposed by employers. Many workers want to work overtime to maintain their standard of living at a time when real wages are stagnant or falling. Reducing overtime will involve a process of debate and discussion within the labour movement. In the current climate, it is difficult to make progress on two fronts at once. Reduction of work-time will have to be made a real bargaining priority.
Employers lie behind the trend to both longer hours and shorter and more unpredictable hours.
Workers increasingly have different views of what kinds of working time arrangements suit their needs. Many women workers, in particular, want part-time work and flexible hours, though they want them on very different terms and conditions than those offered by employers. The labour movement can no longer mobilize around a single demand, but must address a range of working time issues. Governments have given shorter working time a bad name by imposing shorter work time on public sector workers. At the same time, governments have been extremely reluctant to regulate working time for private sector workers.