A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #374 - Ecology - 2026 Eco-Unionist Conference: Working Two Hours a Day? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

During the 2026 eco-unionist conference held in Nantes, one of our 
comrades took part in a panel discussion examining our working hours. 
The idea was to work less in order to rethink priorities that are vital 
for our class. Here is a look at some of the points raised... ---- The 
panel's title was a nod to an essay published in 1977 by the Adret 
Collective, which advocated for a drastic reduction in working hours 
driven by productivity gains and automation. Long before that, in 1883, 
Paul Lafargue wrote in *The Right to Be Lazy*: "Without waiting for our 
actions to overturn bourgeois property, our critique and our objectives 
must constantly dismantle bourgeois prejudices." It is a matter of 
"storming the ramparts of capitalist morality and social theories."

The discussion-featuring Céline Marty (a philosopher specializing in the 
work of André Gorz), Julien Troccaz (SUD-Rail), and myself (a member of 
the CGT 44 eco-unionist collective)-opened up a debate on work, 
production, and, more broadly, our social lives.

Drastically reducing working hours is not just about a standard 
"reduction in working time" (RTT) scheme! Moreover, workers are wary of 
the pitfalls that might arise from a hypothetical new framework 
law-reminiscent of the Aubry Laws I and II (the "35-hour week" 
legislation). Those laws saw breaks curtailed and time spent changing 
into work clothes absorbed into the official workday, resulting in a 
reduction of only a few minutes per day... at the cost of intensified 
workloads. And executive-level contracts and "day-based" contracts 
haven't fared any better, notes Julien Troccaz: "What do we do with the 
time freed up by AI?" As Céline Marty points out, in any case, "human 
bodies won't hold up against the climate crisis." Exploitation, fatigue, 
stress, musculoskeletal disorders, cancer-bodies are already breaking down.

Working less also means producing less.
"What should we do with the remaining available resources?" asks Céline 
Marty. The Covid-19 period highlighted "essential activities." So, what 
are the priorities? How do we shed jobs that serve only the capitalist 
economy? And what if we prioritized public service jobs-jobs that meet 
genuine collective needs?

Working less, producing less, and collectively deciding what we truly 
want to produce-to pollute and waste less, and to restore meaning to our 
lives. We must work collectively toward a new vision for society! This 
is, of course, a revolutionary project, entailing a fundamental 
reorganization of production and the relations of production.

Yes, there is life beyond the reign of the commodity. A life of greater 
sobriety, certainly, but one that is exhilarating and rich in so many 
other ways!

We must therefore wage a bold and intense campaign-bringing together 
militant trade unionists and environmental activists, as well as all 
those who are not yet working, are no longer working, or simply refuse 
to be exploited.

The UCL could play an active role in relaunching this fundamental-and 
highly relevant-class struggle. Especially given the surge of AI, which 
compels us to rethink our work, our production, and our organization! As 
André Gorz said-and as Céline Marty reminds us-"it is no longer a matter 
of seizing power as a worker, but of seizing the power to no longer 
function as a worker."

Yann (UCL Nantes)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Journees-ecosyndicales-2026-Travailler-deux-heures-par-jour
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en