Time for Health. Time to live. Time earned.

I just sent this to the change.org site. I'm sure you've all heard of it. There is a voting process that is currently happening called "ideas for changing America." We need to get the government to pass some laws for us! Click on the left hand side where it says [X] Have Voted! Its in a box next to the title. We need just 234 more votes to get into the next round!

PLEASE VOTE HERE!

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Here's my submission (2000 words or less):

This issue, that pervades so much of our life, relates not only to our physical health, but to employee morale, turnover, chronic illness, child care, etc. Governmental discussions seem to be leaving out this issue, but it directly relates to our healthcare concerns, among others.

The US does not ensure that its citizens have appropriate time off in order to take care of themselves & their families. The truth is that countries like Holland, Australia, England, France, New Zealand, Italy etc. get, on the average, of at least 5-6 weeks off of mandatory vacation per year (& mandatory sick time). This is time spent not only with their families & taking care of life’s necessities, but is also spent taking care of their own mental & physical health. Some workers don’t receive ANY time off, because America has not made vacation or sick time mandatory. 'Until the early '70s, European and American workers logged similar hours. But the pattern then drastically diverged, with Europeans getting more vacation time... In the US, corporations gained the upper hand against workers… and the Democratic Party started shifting away from working-class concerns.' http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A6642
We are talking about the middle class. We are talking about the 95% of Americans that the Obama campaign has been talking about so frequently, during this long & great campaign.

Time off is necessary for our health & the health of our families. It is an urgent issue that deserves attention & will demand it, in the health of its citizens, if it is not given the respect it deserves. Our nations health depends on it. Our families depend on it. Our actual lives depend on it.

Thank you & sincerely,
Crystal Place

A few links:

http://www.timeday.org/time_to_care.asp
http://www.timesizing.com/1vacatns.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0728-02.htm

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Thanks for stopping by. You guys rock.