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Only Two Weeks Vacation Per Year In The Us???

Only Two Weeks Vacation Per Year In The Us???

Old Oct 28th 2004, 12:11 am
  #136  
Arri London
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

Magda wrote:
    >
    > On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 20:32:09 +0200, in rec.travel.europe, Mxsmanic <[email protected]>
    > arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :
    >
    > ... Lucky in some ways, unlucky in others. Europeans still think they've
    > ... accomplished great things if they can buy a color TV after saving up for
    > ... ten years.
    >
    > You are beating your own records here, Mixi. NO congratulations.

LOL hey those wall-sized plasma TVs are expensive. AFter buying the
house, the vacation house, the BMW/Rover/MB and paying for the latest
cruise etc, there isn't a lot of money left for colour TV.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:11 am
  #137  
Richard Hutnik
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<483un0lc2o3rmp3kju8enknp9h845l1v50@news>...
    > When an American friend told me people in the US only have two weeks
    > of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He said yeah but
    > we get paid public holidays.
    >
    > In the UK we get 4 to 5 weeks paid leave plus public holidays . Other
    > countries like France get 5 to 6 weeks plus public holidays. Plus
    > they only work 35 hours per week yet they are one of the most
    > productive countries in the world.
    >
    > If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    > such a system and not lose their mind???
    >
    > Life can't all be about work. It seems such a system would breed
    > highly neurotic and hysterical people. I wouldn't want to live like
    > that no matter how much they paid me.

There is a bunch of reasons here:
1. People need to keep up with the Joneses here. People value money
more than other things here.
2. Unionization is at an all-time low. Businesses can make whatever
demands they like, and people have to accept it. The market dictates
a lot here. And with job growth being what it is, people have to put
up with whatever they have to, in order to keep their jobs.
Businesses are constantly letting people go to remind them of this
fact.
3. People are falling further and further behind economically here.
More and more people will have to get second and third jobs in fact.
4. New changes in labor laws coming. More and more people will be
salaried. They will be demanded to work overtime, and not get paid
for it.
5. Advent of technology. Now work follows them home, on vacation,
etc...

You will be amazed what people can put up when they have to...
- Richard Hutnik
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:21 am
  #138  
Szozu
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

"AcydSkull" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > If you get a new boss and he/she doesn't like your face out the door you
    > are. In fact most businesses are a scourge to society despite popular
    > opinion to the contrary.

You don't even need a new boss for that to happen. I've seen people who've
worked for many years at a company be called in on Thursday to hear a "don't
bother coming in on Monday" message and the quality of their work was not
the issue. Management just felt that they could economize by redistributing
the work among the remaining workers. At the same time, someone who spent
all day jabbering on the phone, constantly calling in sick and coming in
late was allowed to remain. I've also seen middle-management being cut for
the same reason and escorted back to their desks by a security guard to pick
up their personal belongings and leave the building.

    > The salsry disparity is incredible, the difference between the highest
    > paid executive and the lowest paid employee and be hundreds of percentage
    > points.

I've seen business expense reports that were double a secretary's annual
salary.

    > Companies routinely "merge" in order to "bring greater variety to the
    > consumer". The end result are massive "layoffs" with complete disregard
    > for the employees, some of which could be of an age that would make it
    > difficult to find a new job.

I've seen this happen to telecommunications companies and found closing an
account to be a project that took several month's work, because they didn't
bother merging their customer service departments. I found myself doing a
telephone tour of New York, New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri in my
quest for someone who knew their ass from their elbow, but I kept getting
clueless youngsters who couldn't deal with anything not on their script.
Later, an engineer in the company told me that they were mostly former
burger-flippers from fast food chains, so we have some idea of the pay scale
and intellectual capabilities.

I used to work in a Swiss company in New York and there was no end to the
resentment whenever we would get their holiday schedules at the beginning of
the year. They had twice the number of days off and of course, far more
vacation days and endless benefits that we didn't have.

Lana
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:45 am
  #139  
Ted Ng
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

"AJC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > Don't worry, most Europeans are well aware of what life in the US is
    > really like.

Indeed. That's why so many Europeans move here. 255,976 *legal* immigrants
from Europe alone in 2002. In just 4 years, over a million Europeans moved
to the United States to seek permanent legal residency.

http://www.migrationinformation.org
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:47 am
  #140  
Auntie Em
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 23:52:21 +0200, Magda
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 16:17:03 -0500, in rec.travel.europe, Auntie Em <[email protected]>
    >arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :
    > ... They're working on it. Google some stories about Flint (Flynt?)
    > ... Michigan, if you don't believe me.
    >I Copernicked it. What's in there, the teachers are robots ?

Automobile manufacturerers. Many, many, many of the workers were
replaced by automated machinery causing economic collapse in the area
- rampant unemployment, foreclosures of homes, etc. This occurred
many years ago and the area still has not recovered.

Em

Be careful what you wish for....
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:52 am
  #141  
Bogus Address
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

    >>>> When an American friend told me people in the US only have two
    >>>> weeks of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He
    >>>> said yeah but we get paid public holidays.
    >>> Many people don't get any paid leave at all.
    >> Now, you *have* to be kidding us. Are you telling us that slave
    >> work is legal over there??
    > No, people get paid to work, so it's not technically slavery.

But prison labour *is* slavery, and the US has a far higher proportion
of people doing it than any other developed country. One reason for
the extraordinary length of US jail sentences. It's been that way for
nearly a century; places like Parkman Farm simply stepped in to fill
the gap left by the abolition of slavery, and the states that exploit
prison labour the most today are the former slave-holding ones.

The US's hands-off policy over China's human rights record doesn't
come as much of a surprise. Pot, kettle, black.

========> Email to "j-c" at this site; email to "bogus" will bounce <========
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
<http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/purrhome.html> food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 1:53 am
  #142  
Ted Ng
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

"Mxsmanic" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Ted Ng" <ted_ng@[nospam].com> writes:
    >> It sucks, but I see in the news that business conditions are now forcing
    >> Europe to cut back on the extensive social welfare system.
    > It will never regress to the American extreme.
    >> The wrenching changes the US has gone through over the past decade,
    >> western Europe will also have to experience.
    > Nobody imposed those changes on the U.S.; it made most of the changes
    > itself in search of ever-higher corporate profits.

If European industry wants to compete against China, European workers will
experience major changes in their benefits. If you deny the obvious, you
have no understanding of economics. Is this fact of life fair? I don't know.
I hear competing theories.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 2:03 am
  #143  
Baldur
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

In article <[email protected]>
"Rod Speed" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > Magda <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote
    > > ... Slaves dont get paid at all, stupid.
    > > If you work as a slave, mercan, don't call *me* stupid.
    > I'm not even an american, stupid.

Oh, Bullshit!

Only americans are that stupid, and only the Americans who
support George 'WMD' Bush.

-=-
This message was posted via two or more anonymous remailing services.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 2:58 am
  #144  
Shawn Hearn
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

In article <483un0lc2o3rmp3kju8enknp9h845l1v50@news>,
Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote:

    > When an American friend told me people in the US only have two weeks
    > of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He said yeah but
    > we get paid public holidays.
    >
    > In the UK we get 4 to 5 weeks paid leave plus public holidays . Other
    > countries like France get 5 to 6 weeks plus public holidays. Plus
    > they only work 35 hours per week yet they are one of the most
    > productive countries in the world.
    >
    > If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    > such a system and not lose their mind???
    >
    > Life can't all be about work. It seems such a system would breed
    > highly neurotic and hysterical people. I wouldn't want to live like
    > that no matter how much they paid me.

Two weeks is very common in the United States. I am fortunate in that I
get four weeks of regular vacation, plus Xmas, Memorial Day, July 4th,
Labor Day, and one of two other holidays, but not Easter. I also get
three personal days, plus at least a month of sick days, but I have
a lot of seniority where I work so that time has built up over the years.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:05 am
  #145  
Shawn Hearn
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

In article <[email protected]>,
Juliana L Holm <[email protected]> wrote:

    > In rec.travel.europe AJC <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >>Many places do allow you to take time without pay.
    >
    >
    > > Do many new workers take unpaid leave? If not it is just incredible.
    > > In much of Europe people are used to a 2 or 3 week summer holiday, a
    > > week's wintersport, another week at home, and a few long weekends for
    > > a city break or whatever.
    >
    > It depends. If they can afford to they will. For example, I am currently
    > job
    > hunting. If I get a new job before February, I have 5 days of vacation (a
    > long weekend in January and a week in February) planned. Wherever I go I
    > will
    > ask for either the abilty to go to negaive leave or to take time off without
    > pay
    > so I can still go. But some people don't. My son is an apprentice
    > electrician.
    > He gets no leave until after he has been a member of the union (which happens
    > in
    > December for 1 year. So he can't take paid leave until 12.2005. He cannot
    > afford to take more than a day here or there off.
    >
    > Julie

Don't forget those who're self-employed. I am not in that situation, but
my sister owns her own business. Her situation is very simple. When she
works, she gets paid. When she doesn't work, she does not get paid. Than
again, she also has no boss or supervisor, no office politics, and she
sets her own hours so my sister typically works four twelve hour days,
but she has the option of breaking up her days anyway she wants. Such
is the benefits when you own your own psychological practice, which is
what my sister does.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:13 am
  #146  
Torgari
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

Ted Ng wrote......

    >"AJC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected].. .
    >> Don't worry, most Europeans are well aware of what life in the US is
    >> really like.
    >Indeed. That's why so many Europeans move here. 255,976 *legal* immigrants
    >from Europe alone in 2002. In just 4 years, over a million Europeans moved
    >to the United States to seek permanent legal residency.
    >http://www.migrationinformation.org
From Eastern Europe. The USA only attracts immigrants from 2nd and 3rd world shit holes.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:16 am
  #147  
Rod Speed
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

Baldur <[email protected]> wrote
in message news:81C9AL5D38287.9193055556@anonymous...
    > Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote
    >> Magda <[email protected]> wrote
    >>> Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote

    >>> ... Slaves dont get paid at all, stupid.

    >>> If you work as a slave, mercan, don't call *me* stupid.

    >> I'm not even an american, stupid.

    > Oh, Bullshit!

    > Only americans are that stupid, and only the
    > Americans who support George 'WMD' Bush.

Blair is an american eh ? Has anyone bothered to tell him ?
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:19 am
  #148  
Rod Speed
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

john <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote
    >> Mxsmanic <[email protected]> wrote

    >>> There has been an increasing stratification of society in the U.S.,

    >> Nope, thats a myth.

    > Can you show otherwise?

It made that claim.

It gets to do the showing.

Thats how it works.

    >>> reversing a trend towards equilibrium that apparently
    >>> culminated in the 1950s and 1960s. Today most of
    >>> the middle class is regressing to the lower classes,

    >>Another silly myth/lie.

    > Can you show otherwise?

It made that claim.

It gets to do the showing.

Thats how it works.


    >> The percentage employed in the professions, doctors,
    >> teachers, engineers, etc etc etc, hasnt dropped.

    >>> while the most wealthy upper classes shrink and become wealthier.
    >>> Unconstrained capitalism and/or greed is probably the cause.

    >> Pity its a myth/lie run by leftys.

    > Can you show otherwise?

It made that claim.

It gets to do the showing.

Thats how it works.

And I did with the professions, stupid.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:22 am
  #149  
Km
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

"D. Lloyd" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > North Americans. Canadians (of which I am one) also suffer under a system
    > which requires them to work far more than is healthy. Most people here
    > also start off with 2 weeks vacation, which only slowly increases after
    > several years with a company.

I'm glad someone pointed out that both Canada and the U.S. are in this
short-vacations culture together.

Catching up with the British, Australians, New Zealanders and Irish (all of
whom have or are preparing to adopt four-week minimums) won't be easy. There
was a private members' resolution introduced in Parliament in 2002 to raise
the federal minimum -- covering 10% of the workforce -- to three weeks. The
Liberals and the then Canadian Alliance joined forces to defeat it, with the
Liberals claiming that nothing should be done without consulting the
provinces and the Alliance claiming that nothing should be done at all. Yet
the six smaller provinces won't dare move unless one of the Big Four moves
first, and the Big Four are under governments that won't touch the issue for
ideological reasons or because they're busy putting out fires.

    >> If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    >> such a system and not lose their mind???
    > I guess it's because it's been that way for a long time and people expect
    > it.

Not to mention that many North Americans don't know that two weeks per year
is abnormally low. If more than a small percentage of North Americans knew
the extra vacation time they're rewarded after five or more years would be
considered less than or just barely the legal minimum in many other modern
countries, this would be a red-hot political issue. Most probably figure
that if it's two weeks here then it must be two weeks everywhere, so there's
little sense of deprivation.
 
Old Oct 28th 2004, 3:33 am
  #150  
Rod Speed
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Default Re: ONLY TWO WEEKS VACATION PER YEAR IN THE US???

"Richard Hutnik" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] om...
    > Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<483un0lc2o3rmp3kju8enknp9h845l1v50@news>...
    >> When an American friend told me people in the US only have two weeks
    >> of paid leave PER YEAR I could scarcely believe it. He said yeah but
    >> we get paid public holidays.
    >> In the UK we get 4 to 5 weeks paid leave plus public holidays . Other
    >> countries like France get 5 to 6 weeks plus public holidays. Plus
    >> they only work 35 hours per week yet they are one of the most
    >> productive countries in the world.
    >> If this is true about the US, how can the average American live under
    >> such a system and not lose their mind???

    >> Life can't all be about work. It seems such a system would
    >> breed highly neurotic and hysterical people. I wouldn't want
    >> to live like that no matter how much they paid me.

    > There is a bunch of reasons here:
    > 1. People need to keep up with the Joneses here.

Nope, they choose to.

    > People value money more than other things here.

Mindless claim.

    > 2. Unionization is at an all-time low.

Just like it is in every other modern first world country too.

    > Businesses can make whatever demands
    > they like, and people have to accept it.

Wrong again. Quite a bit is controlled by legislation.

    > The market dictates a lot here.

You did manage to get that bit right.

Less is required by govt edict, particularly with vacation time.

    > And with job growth being what it is, people have to put
    > up with whatever they have to, in order to keep their jobs.

How odd that the US actually has one of the lowest
unemployment rates in the entire first world.

    > Businesses are constantly letting people go to remind them of this fact.

Mindless conspiracy theory.

    > 3. People are falling further and further behind economically here.

Complete and utter pig ignorant drivel.

    > More and more people will have to get second and third jobs in fact.

Complete and utter pig ignorant drivel.

    > 4. New changes in labor laws coming. More and more people will be
    > salaried. They will be demanded to work overtime, and not get paid for it.

True right thruout the first world.

    > 5. Advent of technology. Now work follows them home, on vacation, etc...

True right thruout the first world, particularly for professional employees.

    > You will be amazed what people can put up when they have to...

You will be amazed at what some CHOOSE to do.
 

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