Bernie Sanders nailed it: Our jobs are killing us
Wednesday, Jun 17, 2015 04:15 AM ES
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently introduced the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act to Congress. If passed, it would require employers with at least 15 workers to provide 10 days of paid vacation to every employee who has worked with them for more than a year.
“What family values are about is that at least for two weeks a year, people can come together under a relaxed environment and enjoy the family,” Sanders explained from the Senate floor. “That is a family value that I want to see happen in this country.”
While Fox News predictably came out against the proposal, his push to reclaim family values for the left has strongly resonated on Twitter, where the Senator’s discussion-generating policies remain enormously popular. In addition, the science strongly supports his belief that everyone needs a vacation—although the problem may rest as much with our cultural values as it does with our economic system.
According to a survey by the travel intelligence site Skift, 42 percent of working Americans didn’t use their vacation days in 2014. This is partially due to the fact that one out of four Americans don’t even receive paid time off (as the Center for Economic and Policy Research reported), whereas most other first-world countries require businesses to provide employees with a minimum number of paid vacation days (31 in France and Italy, 19 in Canada, 10 in Japan).
in full: http://www.salon.com/2015/06/17/bernie_sanders_nailed_it_our_jobs_are_killing_us_partner/
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This is the result of neoliberal barbarism which Bernie recognizes and says must stop. A grandfather who was a carpenter supported a family of 5 in a basic home and a decent lifestyle. Same for the parents generation. What we're experiencing now is abnormal by any standards and the result is stress, sickness and decline. Hell of a way to run a country, into the ground.
K & R. Go Bernie!
