An Economic and Business History of Worksharing: The Bell Canada and Volkswagen Experiences

Abstract

announced plans to reduce their work week from five to four days. In both cases hour cuts were negotiated to avoid massive layoffs; at both firms earnings were cut, although not proportionately. 2 The s'nnilarities ended there, however. At Bell hour cuts were met by lower productivity and higher absenteeism, and the firm admitted that the pattern of four days work was too rigid to accommodate variations in demand. At VW productivity increased, absenteeism declined, and its Wolfsburg plant now operates more than 150 schedules to accommodate the needs of workers and customers. And while in April 1994 Bell resumed working its normal 38-40 hour work week, making plans to downsize and use layoffs to reduce its workforce, VW, as set out in its most recent contract of December 1995, continues to work 28.8 hours per week and to introduce further flexibility in hours of operation. The Bell and VW cases are telling illustrations of the widespread use of worksharing and short time in Europe and its neglect in North America) What • The research for this paper was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities

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