Live data from Hacker News

Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

gadgettendency.com

41–50 of 267 posts

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#41
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's inherently abusive about a 12 hour work day? And you don't here complaints in the US because the US does not limit the amount of hours you can work in a day. It just says that companies must provide an unpaid break for more than 5 consecutive hours of work.

I’m no expert on this but there’s a long history in the fight for an 8 hour work day. Many people (myself included) think we should move to even shorter workdays, or shorter work weeks. I like the slogan they had: “8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for work, 8 hours for what we will” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day

Nobody is forcing anybody to work 12 hours a day?

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#42
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe the men are already being abused? Perhaps if there were working hour rules for everyone, wages would have to come up? The US has working hour regulations, but I don't hear the workers complain that they are being stifled from working as much as the want.

What's inherently abusive about a 12 hour work day? And you don't here complaints in the US because the US does not limit the amount of hours you can work in a day. It just says that companies must provide an unpaid break for more than 5 consecutive hours of work.

The most obvious problem is that you make workers compete against each other in a race to the bottom, with fewer and fewer protections, and employers select among the workers for those most willing to endure the most demanding hardship.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there’s no shift manager walking the hallways in hospitals with clubs threatening you to work faster or suffer punishment. And the nurses can quit without fear of violence or imprisonment.

Gut Reaction - How short of shifts would make those things okay? 10 hour? 8 hour? 6 hour?

You know that I never said those things were OK. So maybe think for a moment before posting gut reactions.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#44
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's inherently abusive about a 12 hour work day? And you don't here complaints in the US because the US does not limit the amount of hours you can work in a day. It just says that companies must provide an unpaid break for more than 5 consecutive hours of work.

[flagged]

Then don't work 12 hours a day. Simple.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#45
post #13
post #4

Gut Reaction: In what ways is this different from woman nurses in American hospitals regularly working 12-hour (or longer) shifts?

Hospitals are a little different in that society has more of an incentive for longer shifts since shift changes end up killing people as the knowledge transfer isn't perfect from one shift to the next. That incentive makes it reasonable to treat healthcare workers a little differently from a legal perspective when compared with jobs with less societal benefit like making iPhones.

The shift change problem can be eliminated by having shifts overlap, hospitals just don't want to hire more staff to make that happen.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#46
post #33
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's inherently abusive about a 12 hour work day? And you don't here complaints in the US because the US does not limit the amount of hours you can work in a day. It just says that companies must provide an unpaid break for more than 5 consecutive hours of work.

If you want to dedicate your life completely to work, go ahead, but others maybe just want to work normal 9-5 jobs and have some free time for other activities

That's exactly how it is. Nobody requires you to have 12 hour availability. It's just allowed now for women like it has been for men.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#49
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m no expert on this but there’s a long history in the fight for an 8 hour work day. Many people (myself included) think we should move to even shorter workdays, or shorter work weeks. I like the slogan they had: “8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for work, 8 hours for what we will” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day

Nobody is forcing anybody to work 12 hours a day?

Many employers effectively force exempt employees to work 12 hour days.

Re: Apple and Foxconn win permission for 12-hour shifts for women in India

#50
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's inherently abusive about a 12 hour work day? And you don't here complaints in the US because the US does not limit the amount of hours you can work in a day. It just says that companies must provide an unpaid break for more than 5 consecutive hours of work.

The most obvious problem is that you make workers compete against each other in a race to the bottom, with fewer and fewer protections, and employers select among the workers for those most willing to endure the most demanding hardship.

So because some people don't want to work more than 8 hours a day we must prevent everybody from working more than 8 hours a day because it will inevitably spiral into a race to the bottom? That's rhetorically pretty loose. Do we have that problem in the US? No. I don't believe this race to the bottom actually exists. Companies need all sorts of labor. Diversity of labor is good.
Post reply on HN