It could be better for you, your family and even employers.
My great-grandparents, like many Jews of their generation, worked in the clothing factories of New York City. They were probably required to work every day except Sunday, which was the standard at the time. Jewish workers were sometimes warned that if they didn't show up on Saturday, they wouldn't have a job on Monday. |
In 1907, another Jewish immigrant of that generation, Henry Feuerstein, saved up enough money to buy a knitting mill in Malden, Mass. |
Feuerstein, who was an observant Jew, decided to do something new. He shuttered his factory on Saturdays as well as Sundays, so both Jewish and Christian workers could observe their Sabbath days. It appears to be the earliest documented instance of an American factory giving its workers what is now the standard weekend. |
The idea spread slowly. In 1922, there were still only about 70 factories in the country that offered a five-day workweek, according to a survey by a Princeton economist. Most of them were textile firms in New York with heavily Jewish labor forces. By then, however, workers in other industries, including coal miners and autoworkers, were also demanding a five-day week. The eventual success of that effort is commemorated by a popular bumper sticker: "The Labor Movement: The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend." |
Feuerstein's role is largely forgotten, but it shouldn't be. |
It's a great idea. As I wrote in a piece making the case that a four-day week should become the new standard, "Americans spend too much time on the job. A shorter workweek would be better for our health, better for our families and better for our employers, who would reap the benefits of a more motivated and better-rested work force." |
Happy Monday. Wouldn't it be nice if today were the third day of the weekend? |
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