Get Thee To The Moil!

December 20, 2022

Central Thesis

Employers’ current struggles with staffing shortages and union activity are attributable to demographic shifts that have altered the balance of power between labor and management. The boomer generation's retirement is creating a situation where workers have unprecedented negotiating power.

Key Arguments

• The Kellogg's Six-Hour Day Case Study

The Kellogg's experiment from 1930 to 1985 provides a historical example of reduced work hours. Factors like the Depression, with reduced work hours to allow more people to work, initially drove this, but unions initially rejected the "liberation capitalism" approach bosses used to reduce hours. This reduction in hours was ultimately abandoned due to demographic changes and business pressures.

• Demographic Shifts and Labor Power

The host argues that labor's negotiating power is driven by supply and demand. The Spanish Flu pandemic and World War I reduced the workforce, increasing labor's power in the 1930s. The subsequent Baby Boom flooded the job market, diluting union power and empowering employers.

• The Boomer Retirement Wave

The retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is creating a labor shortage, swinging the pendulum back in favor of workers. This shift empowers workers to demand better wages and working conditions and strengthen unions.

• Rejection of "Moil"

"Moil," defined as both confusion/agitation and hard drudgery, represents the undesirable aspects of the traditional workplace. The shrinking workforce allows workers to reject this "moil" and demand better treatment.

Notable Passages

• "Bosses want to hire people as cheaply as they can. Likewise, workers want as much for their labor per hour as they can get. That dynamic tension has always been and will continue to always be an important, if not the main factor in determining how much people wind up getting paid. And, very importantly, what the jobs they're forced to work are going to look like."
• "Seriously, where are the pitchfork and torch parades when you need them? I'm sick to death of people putting up with such crap."
• "The fact that the workers at the Kellogg's factory managed to hold on to their short six-hour shifts until early 85, was nothing short of a freaking miracle."

Rhetorical Approach

The host employs a combination of personal anecdote, historical analysis (focusing on Kellogg's and broader 20th century history), economic reasoning based on labor supply and demand, and a sarcastic, often profane, tone. He utilizes math and demographic data, and colloquial language to make his arguments accessible while maintaining an engaged critical stance toward employers.

Connections

• Previous episodes on Kellogg's Six-Hour Day (180, 181, 182, 183, 197, 203)
• Episode 191: An Apology For Idlers
• Episode 182 references FDR suspending short hours.
• References Benjamin Honeycutt's Kellogg's Six-Hour Day, John M. Berry's The Great Influenza, and Robert Louis Stevenson's essay "An Apology for Idlers."