Friday, August 27, 2010

Overworked, U.S.A.

Americans are overworked and have been for years. Phone calls, logging in and even going in on vacation & days off. Unpaid lunch. Mandatory overtime. UNPAID overtime. Vacation, sick, and family days we're supposed to lump all into 5 days a year the company generously gives us. And just look at the hours we work compared to the Germans and even the British. Americans work and work and have no time for anything else including family time, continuing education, hobbies, relaxation, personal improvement, exercise, eating right (only have time for fast food), the list goes on and on. And despite all of our UNREWARDED hard work, what have we got to show for it? A depression. Yes, a depression. I'm not feeling any recovery since the depression started in 2008, and I doubt anyone else is, either. I recently read a headline that stated the recovery is slowing down. How can something be measured if it didn't exist in the first place?

There was actually a bill that was passed in Congress many years ago but was shot down by the president called the Black Bill. It called for 30 hour work weeks. This bill should be passed, along with a few additions: no unpaid lunches, maximum of 5 days working in a row, no mandatory overtime, a 4-day work week and a minimum of one month time off for every worker. How much more could the average U.S. citizen do with 3-day weekends for life? How much stress would be relieved by this? Not only that, it would create a ridiculous number of jobs. For every 3 full time employees scaled back to 30-hr weeks, that's one extra employee the company can pay salary to at NO ADDITIONAL COST. It would be a wash.

Call me a socialist, call me the devil himself, just give me my time back.

"Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?": America's misguided culture of overwork - Nonfiction - Salon.com

The Black Bill Overview

No comments:

Post a Comment