A TD has reiterated his calls for a four-day working week in Ireland.
In November of last year, RISE TD Paul Murphy took to the floor to address the Dáil and suggest that the "time has come" for a 4-day working week with no loss of pay.
Yesterday, Mr Murphy took to Twitter where he shared a clip of his argument and again reiterated the call for a shorter working week, writing in a caption:
"We have seen a massive increase in worker productivity, and yet wages have stagnated, and if anything working hours have increased.
"It is long since time that workers benefit instead of the 1%."
In November, Mr Murphy told fellow TDs that the Covid crisis is "likely to have a massive long term impacts on how people work and how people want to work.
"I think an idea whose time has come is the idea of moving to a four day week or a thirty hour week without loss of pay."
He told the Dáil that there has been a "massive" increase in productivity of workers, but wages have stagnated while working hours have also been increased.
The surplus has been "hoovered up by bosses", and workers should be demanding a shorter working week without loss of pay, the RISE TD, who is part of the Solidarity- People Before Profit alliance, said at the time.
Should these changes be introduced, Mr Murphy said there would be major benefits with regards to work-life balance as well as a "major environmental benefit" with less cars on the road.
The proposal for a 4-day week without loss in pay is an idea whose time has come.
We have seen a massive increase in worker productivity, and yet wages have stagnated and if anything working hours have increased. It is long since time that workers benefit instead of the 1%. pic.twitter.com/JTer6a6sii— Paul Murphy 🏳️⚧️ (@paulmurphy_TD) February 4, 2021
Mr Murphy is far from the only person calling for the introduction of a four-day working week in Ireland-- in November last year, Ireland's biggest public service union, Fórsa, said there should be a "steady and managed transition to a shorter working week for all employees in the private, public and community sectors".
Speaking at the November conference, Vice President of Fórsa Eugene Gargan said new technologies has allowed workers to increase their productivity, and a reduced working week would not necessarily mean a decrease in production.
"Reduced working time without loss of pay is the means of sharing the benefits of new technology and sharing the available work," Ms Gargan said.
"The same thing happened in previous technological revolutions, which led to reduced working time. This proposal is an imaginative and realistic response to the radical changes that are occurring in technology, work organisation, and working time."
In September of last year, an official campaign to introduce a four-day working week was launched by Fórsa and Galway company ICE, who have already successfully implemented the initiative for their staff.
The '4-Day Week Ireland', or 4DWI, seeks a shorter week for staff while maintaining the rate of pay and level of output.
See More: Forsa, Four-day Working Week, Ireland, Paul Murphy Td, Rise
