Happy Labor Day

[R00k]

The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee universal healthcare for its citizens. Of all industrialized nations, United states citizens work the most hours and have the least paid time off. Happy labor day.

PSA brought to you by http://oldamericancentury.org/

[feedback]

Yup, I worked today. Fat people work tirelessly to get fatter so we have to counter them.

[ajerara]

really, we work more hours than the Japanese?

[seremtan]

what is this, one of your two days off a year?

[Fender]

really, we work more hours than the Japanese?

Nope. Japan and most of the other Asian nations are higher. And their productivity is lower as well.

[scared?]

lol jobs...

[plained]

The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee universal healthcare for its citizens. Of all industrialized nations, United states citizens work the most hours and have the least paid time off. Happy labor day.

PSA brought to you by http://oldamericancentury.org/

i'm senseing bitter upsetness comming from ur complaints

[Nightshade]

lol jobs...

lol stoner dishpigs

[plained]

jelluz

[busetibi]

lol, bitching because you dont get paid for taking time off
classic

[R00k]

really, we work more hours than the Japanese?

We don't work as many hours as the Japanese, so I guess that means we have it good!

[R00k]

lol, bitching because you dont get paid for taking time off
classic

lol at you not getting the point.
classic

[LawL]

lol, bitching because you dont get paid for taking time off
classic

rofl

[plained]

eeyyy bitching solves alot!

[Big Kahuna Burger]

i move to implement the siesta

[Tsakali_]

really, we work more hours than the Japanese?

their productivity is lower as well.

really?
last I heard we outsource to some asian countries because we save 75% in costs and productivity goes up by 100% as well, it's kinda hard for us lazy fucks to cry about that

[Captain]

Happy Labour Day. Started a new job today, but it's only temporary until I find something better in a couple weeks.

lol, bitching because you dont get paid for taking time off
classic

#7, thanks for playing

[R00k]

The Vanishing American Vacation
By Don Monkerud, AlterNet
Posted on September 3, 2007, Printed on September 4, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/61122/

In 1882, New York clamored for an appearance by the champion of laissez-faire capitalism, Herbert Spencer, who provided Charles Darwin with the phrase, "Survival of the fittest."

Spencer agreed to meet the captains of American industry, but his appearance was a disaster. Spencer told the assembly they didn't understand his ideas, for he disapproved of American capitalism. Americans, he claimed, are pathologically obsessed with work.

Overwork risks their mental and physical health and they need a "revised ideal of life" that includes relaxation. "Life is not for learning, nor is life for working," said Spencer, "but learning and working are for life."

Almost 125 years later, Americans still haven't gotten the message. Compared to people in other developed countries, Americans don't ask for more vacation time, don't take all the vacation time their employers give them and continue to work while they are on vacation.

There are a number of theories about why Americans don't demand more vacation time: fear of leaving work that will pile up in their absence; fear that other employees will show more devotion to the job and get promoted above them; a distaste for relating to a mate and children outside of their tightly structured lives; and they've been convinced that economic success depends on subservience to employers who control their work lives. Consider that:

* Some 88 percent of Americans carry electronic devices while on vacation to communicate with work, and 40 percent log-on to check their work email.

* A third of all Americans don't take their allotted vacation and 37 percent never take more than a week at a time.

Many employees have no choice because they are at the bottom of the pay scale and are forced to work to make ends meet. A third of all women and a quarter of all men receive no paid vacation. We've been globalized, downsized and privatized until we are little more than production units.

The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave. France leads the world with 30 days off a year. Employees in Britain, German, Australia, Spain and Sweden have 20 or more days off a year, and Canada and Japan have 10 days off, about the same as some American corporations allow their workers. The Chinese get three weeks off a year, and this is only the legally mandated vacation time. Many employees in other countries take six or more weeks off a year (the French average 39 days and the English 24).

Meanwhile, those who profit from our labor amass wealth. For the fifth consecutive year in a row -- a Bush record -- the average American's income remained below what it was in 2000. Those making over $1 million a year (less than a quarter of one percent of all taxpayers) increased their incomes 26 percent, and 62 percent of that increase came from Bush tax cuts on investments: capital gains and dividends.

Our mythology claims the work ethic makes America great, but does it? We have the highest productivity in the world because we work more overtime -- 40 percent of Americans work 50 hours a week and some workweeks typically run 60 to 70 hours.

Workers in France, Ireland, Norway and Holland are more productive than American workers; Germany and Britain lag slightly behind, and all of them have more vacation time than we do.

It's not like we don't need vacations. One in three American workers are chronically overworked and report job stress. We are working longer hours, our jobs are more demanding, and we have more tasks to perform. 40 percent of parents with teenage children report high stress levels, and those making over $50,000 a year report the highest levels of stress.

We can't expect to wait until retirement to have more time off, either. For the first time in history -- another Bush record -- four generations of Americans are now working. After decades of decline, the number of workers 55 and over has increased. Today 6.4 percent of those 75 and older work. The number of those receiving pensions decreased by half since 1980 and the age to receive full Social Security benefits increased to 67. Over 60 percent of those between 55 and 64 in California are working, an increase of 7.4 percent since 1980.

Whether it's greed, an ingrained protestant work ethic, economic necessity or some other reason, there's no excuse for not having mandated vacation time.

No one is ever taken advantage of without their agreement, so perhaps Americans live to work. If not, it's time for Americans to take Herbert Spencer's advice, demand more vacation time, relax and enjoy their lives.

[plained]

are those some kinds of tears?

[busetibi]

if you're not happy about how many paid days off you get, start your own commercial or industrial enterprise, instead of bitching about it.
then you can take as many paid days off that you want.
of course you can always say "its so hard to start my own business" which is why you will always be an employee and not an employer.

[R00k]

yea, which is why i ran my own business for 2 years.

your 'common sense' and 'gut feeling' approach to the world correctly informs you of the facts yet again!
amazing, ain't it?

and you still missed the point - or maybe you didn't read the article.


i have as much vacation time as most here do already - i just got home from a short vacation last night. but a lot of people don't even get that much.

so what are you driving at here anyway -- that it's not the government's place to legislate worker benefits, like minimum vacation time, minimum wage, etc?

[GoaGrrl]

Labor Day is much more enjoyable if you were laid off the previous week.

[feedback]

Labor Day is much more enjoyable if you were laid off the previous week.

[SoM]

laid off ?

cant find work ?

call SoM NOW!!!!!!

a corner down the street awaits you

full benefits (of my dick)

[busetibi]

you use past tense regarding your business, most companys fail in the first two years was your company one of them? serious question btw.
what "im driving at" is that if a person is not happy with the conditions they're working under then its time they stopped bitching about it and changed things.
of course ppl who work in dead end jobs,like check out chicks, video store jockeys et al will never be able to change the situation and yes it is the gov place to "look out for them" (fuck knows they can't do it themselves cause they're so dense, which is why they're working those jobs to start with)
i work harder and longer than my employees, yes my financial reward is greater, as it should be because i was the one who got off my arse and put in the time to build my business, i could have said "fuck it i'll just be a worker" and had an easier life, but im not that way