Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans!

by Ben Reilly Mon Sep 01, 2014 7:42 pm

Now get ready to be angry:

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Screen%20Shot%202013-03-08%20at%2011.36.19%20AM

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Change-in-gdp-300

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Change-in-employment-300_0

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Output-and-employment-growth-300

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! 8-640

More: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/speedup-americans-working-harder-charts

by Ben Reilly Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:26 pm

Vice President Joe Biden rallied hundreds of union workers on Monday, saying he believes all American workers deserve a "fair share" as corporations grow.

Speaking at the annual Labor Day parade in Detroit, Biden lamented average Americans' limited access to fair wages.

"A job's about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity, it's about your place in the community, it's about who you are. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be ok.' That's what a job is about," Biden said. "You can't do that unless you get a fair wage."

The speech was Biden's second appearance at Labor Day festivities in the last three years. During his impassioned address, Biden credited labor unions for building the middle class, and thus "building the United States as we know it."

"If the middle class is doing fine, everybody does fine," he said. "The wealthy get very wealthy, and the poor have a way up."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/01/joe-biden-labor-day_n_5748496.html

by Ben Reilly Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:04 pm

Here's a screen cap of the top of a NYT article on wage theft (because NYT doesn't allow copy and paste):

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Nytwag10

by Guest Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:19 pm

you will just have to have a second revolution....should have stayed with us brits in the first place...At least then you would be exploited by people with a bit of class Razz

by Ben Reilly Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:13 pm

victorisnotamused wrote:you will just have to have a second revolution....should have stayed with us brits in the first place...At least then you would be exploited by people with a bit of class

Oh yeah:

Happy Labor Day my fellow Youessicans! Adios-david-beckham-adios-L-3

by veya_victaous Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:02 am

by time off each week do they mean Forced Closure?

because that is not good confused

every one says how 3rd world London is because everything closes on Sunday morning

by Ben Reilly Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:05 am

veya_victaous wrote:by time off each week do they mean Forced Closure?

because that is not good every one says how 3rd world London is because everything closes on Sunday morning

Nah, that means paid time off. In a lot of jobs in the U.S., you can't even get unpaid time off without worrying about whether you'll keep your job. You're quite literally at your employer's mercy.

by Raggamuffin Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:09 am

We have laws in the UK to prevent people having to work for so long without a break. We also have laws re annual leave. Mind you, wages are still rubbish in a lot of jobs.

by Lone Wolf Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:44 am

IN OZ, the amount of time one can be asked to work straight through depends on the job itself, as well as overall IR and OH&S laws...

e.g. the longest shifts generally are 16 hours over any 24 hour periods.
However - truck drivers are limited to 12 hours straight with a break every 2 hours, inc. a meal break every 4 hours; (supermarkets have a bad name for demanding that drivers drive over-time to mak deliveries ~ but then the drivers will fae heavy fines if caugh by the police..);
Coal miners are also restricted to 12 hours, with a maximum of 4 hrs between meal breaks ~ for obvious safety reasons.

HOWEVER, some sensitive job areas ~ such as nursing, and junior and ER doctors in hospitals ~ can see staff often be called on to work longer hours than is actually legal, because of staff shortages in some places..

**************************************************************************************

IN Australia at this time, the Abbott-Hockey Tories are currently looking for ways to wind-back industrial relations laws and OH&S regulations !!!

UNDER threat at the moment are :
* the Minimum Wage (business lobbyists and the Murdoch press hate the concept ~ surprise, surprise..);
* overtime loadings;
* weekend loadings;
* 4-5 week annual leave for permanent workers ~ the conservatives, kowtowing to the Big Business lobby, would like to make that vulnerable to "negotiation" ~ meaning shorter holidays for the workers at the same time as the bosses give themselves more flexible breaks;
* laws against "unfair dismissals" ~ where big business wants the ability to sack people at a moment's notice, no questions asked..

ROUGH SEAS ahead for this part of the world ~ where the minority conservative guvm'nt (45.5% of the primary votes..), keeps on claiming a "mandate" for their business-mates wishlists, happily ignoring that they neither have the majority nor gave the forewarnings that would support such vacuous 'try-on' claims over some (many !) of their imaginary "mandates". Suspect