The Theory and Policy of Labour Protection — John Shaqi
The Theory and Policy of Labour ProtectionSchäffle, A. (Albert)
General
The Theory and Policy of Labour Protection
Schäffle, A. (Albert)
Labor laws and legislation -- Germany
The Auer Motion, for instance, ought to have dealt with both these
questions in a definite manner; but it did not do this. With regard to
those occupations in which a large proportion of the time is spent in
merely waiting, _e.g._ in small shops, public-houses, and in carrying
industries, there is no proposal to fix a special maximum working-day,
except perhaps in the English Shop Regulations Act (12 instead of 10
hours for young persons). With regard to outside work, the Auer Motion
does not determine what may be strictly included within the eight hours
day. The question is this: is the maximum working-day to be imposed on
the employer alone, to prevent him from exacting more than eight or ten
hours work, or on the employed also, to prevent him from carrying on any
outside work, even if it is his own wish to work longer; the more we cut
down the general working-day, the more important it will become to have
a limit of time which will affect not only the employer but also the
employed, as otherwise the latter might, by his outside work, be only
intensifying the evils of competition for his fellow-workers. The Auer
Motion (Sec. 106) only demands the eight hours day for separate business
enterprises; therefore, according to the strict wording, there is
nothing to hinder the workman from working unrestrainedly beyond the
eight hours in a second business enterprise of the same kind, or in any
industry of another kind, in which he is skilled, or in non-industrial
labour, and thus being able to compete with other workmen. Does this
agree in principle with the maximum working-day of Social Democracy? Is
this an oversight, or a practically very important "departure from
principle"? We are not in a position to fully clear up or further
elucidate these two points. For the present we may assume that the
action of the Labour parties was well calculated in both these respects,
viz. in neglecting to draw a distinction between continuous and
intermittent labour, and in excluding outside labour from the operation
of the eight hours working-day.
Lastly, in accurately defining the meaning of the term we must not
overlook the fact that neither in respect to aim nor to operation the
maximum working-day is confined to the question of mere Labour
Protection. It has no exclusively protective significance.
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