President of the Sofofa and reduction of working hours from 45 to 40 hours: “We must do it gradually, it does not seem to me an incorrect aspiration”

The president of the Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (Sofofa), Richard Von Appen, referred to the option of reducing the working day, a proposal of the future government program of Gabriel Boric that seeks to guarantee 40 hours of work per week in favor of a dignification of social rights.
In conversation with Radio Pauta, and far from contrary opinions of other business leaders, Von Appen said that no one can be against the transition from the current 45 working hours to 40 hours, “privileging the balance of professional life with personal life. That is a clear demand from the relevant part of the population.”
In that line, he admitted that, with the 40 hours, a change must be made gradually, mainly for “large cities like Santiago where transfers are long-term and really affect family life and personal life, that I also share.”
The bill to reduce working hours has been stuck in the Labor Committee of Congress for more than a year. For four years it has been admitted and in 2019, it was approved to be legislated with 86 votes in favor, 33 against and 31 abstentions.
Today it returns to the forefront of issues thanks to the inclusion of the measure in the program of the president-elect, Gabriel Boric and figures like Von Appen assume that “it must be done gradually, but going in that direction does not seem to me an incorrect aspiration.”

Original source in Spanish