Rebelling Against Long Hours

The film industry isn't the only place where workers are complaining that they're worked too hard. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. workers in New England recently staged a "family values" strike, demanding less forced overtime and better pensions. "A lot of people don't mind some overtime, because the extra money helps," said one worker. "But it's just blood money after a while. You run into family problems because of long hours." The cover story of the journal of BECTU, the British entertainment union, features "working hours: A life or death issue." Studies prove that longhours affect workers' health, it reports, causing stress, fatigue, headaches and heart disease. The British union is hearing more and more complaints about companies demanding excessive hours and is "beginning to tackle the problem." As one member pointed out, overtime rates were created not because workers want to work long hours but to discourage employers from scheduling unsocial hours in the first place. BECTU will be sending a letter to every new production reminding them that working long hours is a health and safety issue which they are required by law to address.

A study by researchers at the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia shows that drowsy drivers are just as dangerous as drunks. A person who had been awake for 18 hours, said the study, was impaired about as much as someone with a blood alcohol level of .05. A full 24 hours without sleep reduced a driver to the equivalent of .10, a legal DUI in all 50 states.