They were fully prepared to turn the working populace into slave labor and then the government was shocked to see that descision was unpopular.
One thing that catches my eye about this article is that the Guardian specifies “young people” as the cause for the pushback, Gen Z and Millennials, as if everyone else would be perfectly fine working until they fucking die. Just more “Zoomers bad” rhetoric.
Ten hours per day, with one shortened workday?
They’re not monsters, Shrike. This measure had to be introduced for the workers own benefit, otherwise they would have willingly worked the extra hour and that might tip them into an unhealthy situation.