Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There was a time when workers worked seven days a week, working six full days and a half day on Sunday. It was a gain by the labour movement to get rid of the Sunday and eventually the Saturday. Effectively since that time working hours have remained quite stable as each productivity gain delivered by workers has been gobbled up in the form of profits. I agree that this goes beyond climate change, there is no question of that; it goes to the question of the kind of society that we want to have, what we want to spend wealth on and whether we wish to continue merely to boost the profits of big multinational corporations or to improve people's lives and take significant action to reduce carbon emissions. The demand for this will grow and grow. The trade union campaign on this is building. The research in Britain showed that workers were ill less often, less stressed, happier, more productive, developed their skills, travelled less and it attracted workers into the industries where four-day weeks applied. As part of a vision for a socialist society where people participate, a participatory democracy, freeing up time for people to be able to participate in their communities and work places to have democratic control is important.

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