50

THE FIVE-DAY WEEK

The criticism of another union-shop proprietor was in
much the same vein:

“Less work and the same pay. Our cost of production increased,
thereby causing almost all of the big out-of-town buyers to go to
factories located in small towns with cheaper labor, to buy their
goods.”

When employers had voluntarily decided to change to the
five-day week, whether or not the idea originated with the
employees, some found certain disadvantages in the shorter
schedule, but they tended to view these as drawbacks such
as are likely to be a part of any innovation, rather than as
handicaps imposed upon them against their will. Thus, a
manufacturer of automotive equipment found certain practical
 difficulties, which did not, however, appear to him insurmountable,


“There is the problem of convincing an occasional customer, who
comes in at the eleventh hour with an order to be shipped Saturday,
that Saturday is not in our production calendar.”

Another employer with much the same problem—that
of receiving goods ordered and shipping rush orders on
Saturdays—solved the difficulty by maintaining a small
group of about 10%, of the force for Saturdays, while still
another abandoned the five-day week because “customers
required service on Saturday and competition with five-andone-half
 day shops made our costs unfavorable.”
One employer complained that some of his employees
found jobs for Saturdays, such as tending market stands,
and that this defeated the purpose of the five-day week,
which, by implication, is an extra day of complete rest.
There may well be a difference of opinion as to the validity
of this objection. Itisawell-substantiated view that a change
in work often offers as complete a rest as doing nothing. In
fact, many employers cited as an advantage of the five-day
week that employees could make necessary repairs on their
homes, or work in their gardens, and there is considerably
more exertion in such work than in tending a market stand,
even if it does not bring direct monetary compensation.
From this viewpoint, the thrifty employee who adds to his