>Heaven forbid but why not? Why?
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>http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,431814,00.asp
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>This morning as I was on my way to work I was thinking about the IT Industry – software developers in particular. 500,000 out of work Nation wide. 160,000 jobs lost in Silicon Valley.
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>We often spend sessions lasting many hours to get the job done. If employers had their way we would work until we drop and be replace by a kid out of high school or an H1B. There is an available stream of software developers so we have a problem and the schools continue to crank out more of us.
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>Times change and so does the complexion of the work environment. Up until 1933 a “normal work week” was 56 hours. Monday through Friday you worked 10 hours a day and on Saturday you worked 6 hours. Those were the hours my grandfather worked and he told me, “The worse thing that ever happened to this country was the 40 hour week”! Why did he say such a thing?
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>The 40 hour week was established by President Roosevelt, to create more jobs for those who were unemployed. However, if you were employed, you would be working a 40 hour week and “enjoying” 40 hours pay and not 56. So your immediate income was decreased if you were employed. Do not think that employers suddenly hired the masses of humanity who were unemployed – they just worked you harder.
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>Rules were established which defined three sources of labor in the United States – hourly, non-exempt and exempt. If you are a “professional” you are legally an exempt employee. That allows the employer to work you 24 hours a day 7 days a week without any additional compensation. Doctors are professionals and in hospitals often work 72 hour shifts without additional compensation.
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>Are software developers truly “professionals”? If you use the above strategy to limit the workweek of a software developer to 40 hours more programming jobs will be created in theory at least. Lets stick to the theory for a moment. With 500,000 software developers out of work this might help.
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>I have always thought that a 40 hour week should be the maximum unless there is an emergency. In our industry everyday is an emergency so it is not unusual to work 20 hours 7 days a week for months as I have done. My thinking is if there are frequent emergencies there must be a problem. Management should understand the workload and eliminate all “busy and non essential work”, and establish the correct amount of manpower (forgive the term – I am from the old school) to get the job done. That may mean hiring more personnel.
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>When surveys are taken from professionals software developers always seem to end up on the bottom as far as they are concerned. We feel we receive little recognition and are overworked. Granted you can wear a necktie to separate yourself from a common laborer but chances are you dress worse than a ditch digger. Still you call yourself a professional.


Hey! I resemble that remark! ;-)

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>Well, join up brothers and sisters! Let us show management we have them by the short hairs! By the way early in my working career as an Electronic Technician, I was an Overall Shop Stewart for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. If you would like to hear any of my “war stories” about the joys of being in the union – in this case we were the second largest in the country at the time, I am willing to discuss it with you. Let me say this, “Management and Unions suck”!
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>Tom

I am already represented by a union,(http://www.afscme.org/) against my will. They want 2% of my income in return for essentially nothing except Shop Stewards and union officers to by placed at the top of seniority lists ahead of all others so as to keep their jobs if layoffs occur. However, it is against the law for state employees to strike, so bargining is a joke. What they choose to 'grieve' about is also a joke.
Here's their 'el presidenti y el vice presidente for life':
http://www.afscme.org/about/officers.htm
http://www.dsausa.org/links/Links/Links.html