Citizens Briefing Book: Speak with me, directly to the President.

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, healthy family relationships, etc. Government discussions seem to be leaving out this issue, but it directly relates to our healthcare concerns, among others, and is extremely relevant.

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) -sometimes even more. 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 in the U.S. don’t even 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.' (Illinois Times) 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.

I hope we can begin to seriously look at the reason why so many native cultures (i.e. Native Americans, Mauri, etc.) value free time as much as food, work and shelter; why the French so value their 35 hour work week and mandatory (several) weeks of vacation per year (and would never allow their government or corporations to make them live without it); why corporations in places like Holland and New Zealand feel that giving their employees ample time off not only does not hurt their productivity, but benefits them financially; and why American culture in particular has slowly moved away from valuing this basic human need. A lack of a reasonable amount of time off from work affects not only our families ability to have healthy relationships, but our health & healthcare system, our children's ability to learn, interact and problem-solve, our adult citizens ability to deal appropriately with stress, increasing chronic illnesses, and so on.

Appropriate and healthy amounts of mandatory time off is necessary for our health (& the health of our families & our society). We are America, one of the most powerful and richest countries in the world, and as it stands right now, we should be ashamed at the non-existent time-off given to its workforce. This 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.

Please join me in a pro-active discussion about this very important issue, that truly, affects every single one of us. We CAN work together to make this country not only better for us, but for our children, and their's.

Join the voices calling out for better lives & a better country!

Thank you & Sincerely,
Crystal Place

--
A little info:

Have a look at the grassroots organization called 'Take Back Your Time' who is working to get the people of this fine country the time they need to live healthy lives.

Have a look at the article titled 'Americans Work Harder and Go Without Vacations,' by Don Monkerud. I'm sure a google search will happily pull it up for you. Commondreams, I believe, is the site.

Americans have the SHORTEST vacation time (that is not even mandated/protected time) in the ENTIRE developed world. Have a look at Denmark, England, Sweden, France, Spain, etc. The shortest (and not only the shortest, but significantly less than the others).