Posted on 04/28/2008 12:56:23 PM PDT by llevrok
SEATTLE - Mike Cummings believes that for more and more of us, our sentence is "commuting."
Working four days instead of five would mean 20 percent fewer trips to and from work, reducing oil consumption by an estimated 40 percent.
"When I came here I looked at the traffic on I-5 and thought to myself, 'Everybody who does that is out of their mind' and then I ended up being one of them," he said.
So now Mike, a sheet metal contractor, has enlisted in a growing movement to change the way America does business.
Whenever possible he and his men work four-day weeks - 10 hour shifts - as a way to cut costs, reduce pollution and congestion.
"It would be astronomical what states, the federal government and the nation and the world could save on energy consumption, pollution traffic congestion and everything else," he said.
Whenever possible, Mike Cummings and his men work four-day weeks as a way to cut costs, reduce pollution and congestion.
The idea isn't new one. The oil crisis of the 1970s prompted some employers to switch to a four-day work week, but the idea never took hold nationally.
These days, though, energy and congestion issues may give the concept more traction. Several petition drives for a shortened work week are now circulating on the Internet.
A handful of cities in Nevada, California and Arizona are experimenting with the idea.
The state of West Virginia is considering a four-day week for government workers there.
Working four days instead of five would mean 20 percent fewer trips to and from work, reducing gasoline consumption by an estimated 65 million gallons per day, not to mention more time with family, and for Mike Cummings, a bit more hope for the future.
"I think this would help with a lot of the planet's problems, I think it would help with our oil problems and give them a little better life," he said.
Marion County Florida recently switched to a four-day work week for county workers. They expect to save $250,000 in energy costs this year alone.
Says it all!
As tens of millions in all of the cities commute in bumper to bumper traffic, just to get to their cubicles to sit and use a computer and keyboard.... When they could do this at home!!
Can anyone imagine what this would do for fuel prices, not to mention how this would piss off the A-rabs and others that are making a fortune selling fuel?
IN ADDITION, this would reduce traffic enormously all across this country. Those that had to use trucks and cars for their jobs would be using much less fuel, and their productivity time would also increase dramatically.
Then why don't we just work 2 days. Because if we save 40% of gas a day, that'd be 120%. That must mean that we'd be exporting gas or something. I just don't follow this guy's math....
And what about weekends? Where I live, lots of people drive on the weekends. And what about the wife? My wife drives the kids around. And school buses? And trucks? And heating oil? And public transportation? And taxis? Somehow, I don't think driving 4 days instead of 5 would lead to an even 20% savings.
If we treat you as the liberals would like, then you actually deserve a gas rebate check!
We’ll call it an economic stimulus incetive.
You hit the nail on the head Sybeck1. The fact is that very few Americans now work the traditional ole 8 hr’s/day, 5 days per week schedule. Besides, I have managed compressed work weeks (4 days on, 3 days off, 3 days on, 4 days off, and other variations) and managers and those who possess critical skills find themselves working 7 days per week. Also, those who "are" able to work the compressed work schedule often use the extra days off to go find themselves other work to supplement their income. Others use the time to do do things that require burning gas which is nearly everything. Although I am using a compressed workweek as my example, the same scenarios would apply to the 4/10 workweek. Btw, I am not against this if it makes folks happy. I just don't believe that from a practical point of view there are any savings in this scheme.
Using Nancy P math - like gas was a dollar something??
Bingo!
Says it all!
As tens of millions in all of the cities commute in bumper to bumper traffic, just to get to their cubicles to sit and use a computer and keyboard.... When they could do this at home!!
Can anyone imagine what this would do for fuel prices, not to mention how this would piss off the A-rabs and others that are making a fortune selling fuel?
IN ADDITION, this would reduce traffic enormously all across this country. Those that had to use trucks and cars for their jobs would be using much less fuel, and their productivity time would also increase dramatically. I'll go one step further.
If our government is so concerned about energy, and global warming, the environment etc,...In addition to the middle class is now being hammered by these fuel prices, why would government not mandate that these millions that commute every day just to sit at a computer and use a keyboard, telecommute?
The government could offer tax incentives for every company that sends half or more of it's work force home to work.
We have the technology to do this. The big question is, why is our leadership not demanding this and work with all these companies to make this happen?
Think of the savings for road repairs, fuel costs, commute times, and what this would do to our A-rab enemies.
Of course, once your boss realizes that somebody can work from home, home can be half a world away.
great idea that way with 4 days I can drive to the beach or to the mountains. I can cruise the chicks. I can go see my mom in florida. I can....use a lot more gas!
The boss already knows this, and they use people that work all over the world.
I go into companies where thousands sit at a computer and keyboard all day...Milllions do this every day, using billions of gallons of fuel, proping up the A-rabs etc...
Government should step up to the plate, and tell these companies whats up, give them some incentives, and get these millions off the roads, out of their cars.
This is a win win for everyone except Exxon and the Arabs.
How much did the taxpayer save, or are they still getting paid for that fifth day they dont work?
Like people are going to want to stay home three days a week. Not very likely.
After 12 hours of holding your ankles for a paycheck, everybody turns into a disheveled Frankenstein Monster.
That’s when the commute gets exciting!
{|:-)>~~~~
Or 5 "twelves"?
If they can afford the gas and this is how they want to spend their time off then by all means, let them.
Others might choose to not waste any gas and spend three days at home. Me? Whether I had a 2 day or a 3 day weekend, I usually only went out one day so, yes, I saved gas. I have lots of cool things I can do at home so I don't need to turn every 3 day weekend into a mini-vacation.
Not to mention the security issues. You don’t have to secure and lock down a large building full of people if they are all working from home.
Add three dozen Monday holidays and voila — a four day work week — just like the French.
The rest of us will continue working 10s, 12s, 14’s and 24/7/365.
As the French might say, “quelqu’un doit faire le travail”.
But not me!
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