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High gas prices prompt call
for 4-day work week
11:46 AM PDT on Monday, April 28, 2008
SEATTLE - Mike Cummings believes that for more and more of us, our sentence is "commuting."
"When I came here I looked at the traffic on I-5 and thought to myself, 'Everybody who does that is out of their mind' and then I ended up being one of them," he said.
So now Mike, a sheet metal contractor, has enlisted in a growing movement to change the way America does business.
Whenever possible he and his men work four-day weeks - 10 hour shifts - as a way to cut costs, reduce pollution and congestion.
"It would be astronomical what states, the federal government and the nation and the world could save on energy consumption, pollution traffic congestion and everything else," he said.
KING
Whenever possible, Mike Cummings and his men work four-day weeks as a way to cut costs, reduce pollution and congestion.
The idea isn't new one. The oil crisis of the 1970s prompted some employers to switch to a four-day work week, but the idea never took hold nationally.
These days, though, energy and congestion issues may give the concept more traction. Several petition drives for a shortened work week are now circulating on the Internet.
A handful of cities in Nevada, California and Arizona are experimenting with the idea.
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The state of West Virginia is considering a four-day week for government workers there.
Working four days instead of five would mean 20 percent fewer trips to and from work, reducing gasoline consumption by an estimated 65 million gallons per day, not to mention more time with family, and for Mike Cummings, a bit more hope for the future.
"I think this would help with a lot of the planet's problems, I think it would help with our oil problems and give them a little better life," he said.
Marion County Florida recently switched to a four-day work week for county workers. They expect to save $250,000 in energy costs this year alone.
