But the five-day week still has inertia on its side. In Our Own Time, published in 1989, Philip Foner and David Roediger wrote that “forty hours appear to have become almost sacrosanct as a lower limit for the workweek.” And even when they’re open to a four-day week, managers must be convinced that it will maintain or increase productivity.

In the 1880s, labor leaders believed that the eight-hour day was one of the only demands that could unite all working people, and today, the four-day week is supported by as many as four in five workers. The demand can also appeal to the many workers who have irregular schedules, are underemployed, or work in the gig economy. According to Reddy from WorkFour, moving to the four-day week can create more stable, full-time positions and expand access to benefits for workers who currently work less than full time.

The May 1886 strike was initially planned by skilled tradesmen who could afford to take a pay cut for shorter hours. Organizers quickly realized that this was unacceptable to poorer workers, so the demand became more radical: eight hours’ work for 10 hours’ pay. By the 1880’s, there were some states with eight- or 10-hour laws, but these were practically unenforced. Eventually, eight-hour activists went to Washington to propose a federal law, which was denied by the president, who said that would be unconstitutional (a position the Supreme Court maintained until the 1930s). 

Workers also fought for eight hours in smaller strikes and negotiations. However, the demand was a dealbreaker for employers, who believed that having fewer work hours would place them at a competitive disadvantage. This finally led to the idea of a general strike, which seemed like the only remaining option.

The 1886 strike was organized by two relatively small organizations, which failed to win the support of the 700,000-member Knights of Labor, whose leadership opposed strikes. Although many local chapters signed on, a coalition including the national Knights might have changed the strike’s outcome.

Today, work-time laws are widely accepted and enforced, so legislation could be a viable approach. As WorkFour’s tally of victories demonstrates, some businesses are now open to transitioning to the four-day week, showing that business-by-business approaches like collective bargaining have potential. But for some, like AFA-CWA president Sara Nelson, a general strike remains workers’ most powerful weapon, which could be used to put pressure on either the government or businesses. 

The fight for the four-day week will ultimately be in the hands of the younger generations. However, there are currently no youth organizations focused on this issue, and major players like the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Sunrise Movement do not include it in their platforms. Carlos Callejo III, a YDSA national cochair, explains that they have “traditionally focused on campus issues” such as sanctuary campuses, protecting LGBTQ+ students, and fighting privatization. After a recent pivot to a “mass organizing orientation,” the YDSA has spearheaded the creation of student workers’ unions, “laying the foundation for future union fights around commonsense demands like the four-day workweek.”

Jules M. is a student worker and union organizer at Oregon State University. In his experience organizing undergraduate student workers, the four-day week has not come up as a demand. “A student who is struggling to pay for groceries or rent is likely going to turn first towards a living wage before a four-day workweek.” However, he echoes Callejo, concluding that campus labor organizing will help build power to win “broader demands.”

Though only a small fraction of US businesses have adopted the shorter schedule so far, Reddy nevertheless believes we are building toward a tipping point. “Social change often feels slow until it happens all at once.” And like the eight-hour day before it, the four-day week will not be the end of the story. According to Jamie McCallum in Worked Over, “the temporal aspect of work [is] a point of fundamental conflict in capitalist society.… When we sleep, eat, raise children, spend time with our friends, bask in the sunshine, or take vacations is dictated by those who control our work.” Therefore, we can expect more struggles in the future, with workers fighting for less work and more leisure—and for a little more of their lives to belong to them.