A medieval peasant got more vacation than you

Unless you're a member of Congress, you get less vacation than a medieval peasant, Lynn Parramore writes in an opinion piece for Reuters:

Plowing and harvesting were backbreaking toil, but the peasant enjoyed anywhere from eight weeks to half the year off. The Church, mindful of how to keep a population from rebelling, enforced frequent mandatory holidays. Weddings, wakes and births might mean a week off quaffing ale to celebrate, and when wandering jugglers or sporting events came to town, the peasant expected time off for entertainment. There were labor-free Sundays, and when the plowing and harvesting seasons were over, the peasant got time to rest, too. In fact, economist Juliet Shor found that during periods of particularly high wages, such as 14th-century England, peasants might put in no more than 150 days a year.

What happened?

1. The U.S. has no national vacation policy;
2. High unemployment and less job security;
3. Corporate greed. 

You probably knew that. But did you know Congress has 239 days off this year?

Today's Teamster News 12.24.12

Art Pope, Koch Brothers Ally, Picked To Run North Carolina Budget  Huffington Post   ...On Thursday, when the incoming North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) announced that Art Pope, the state's single largest donor and a founding board member of the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity, would be in charge of his state's budget as deputy budget director...
The Crass Cynicism of Right-to-Work Laws  Counterpunch   ...in the neo-liberal order that arose in the aftermath of the PATCO strike and, later, the coal miners’ strike in Great Britain, capitalists found that they again have everything to gain by reverting back to their old ways: enriching themselves by impoverishing their workers. This is why the most nefarious among them are now pouring money into efforts to legislate the right to work...
Right-to-work states have lower unemployment but also lower wages  Charlotte Business Journal   ...In the Northeast, where no states have right-to-work laws in place, the employer cost per worker per hour, including benefits, is highest in the nation at $33.18, according to the report. The cheapest labor, $26.32 per worker per hour, is in the South, where all but a couple of states have right-to-work laws on the books...
Yvonne White: Repealing right-to-work is a matter of economic justice (opinion)  Detroit Free Press   ...Decades before passage of the Civil Rights Act, labor unions served as the ladder to the middle class for people of color. In Michigan this month, a coalition of anti-worker interests swept away years of progress by crippling unions in the state where organized labor was born...
When Hedge Funds Trump Governments  Economic Populist   ...While Greece suffers to the point of revolution and suicide, hedge funds made out like bandits on Greek sovereign debt...
Gasoline Prices near Low for Year, Expected to Increase  Calculated Risk   ...It looks like prices will finish the year near the low, but probably increase soon...
Why Do Americans Have Less Vacation Time than Anyone Else?  Big Think   ...yes, the United States is the only OECD country that does not require employers to provide even a day of paid leave to its employees...

Links 08/10/10

KKR Shelves Offering Wall Street Journal ...KKR & Co. said it dropped plans to raise $500 million in a stock offering, a setback for the firm as it begins life as a company publicly traded...

House moves to help teachers, public workers Associated Press ...House Democrats are convening an emergency session to pass a bill aimed at saving hundreds of thousands of teachers and other public workers from unemployment.


Americans Afraid to Take Full Vacations ABC ...only 57 percent of people here are taking all of their vacation time.

Boomers wanting to work past retirement age find limited options USA Today ...Jobs are scarce and many employers aren't willing to hire older workers.

China Trade Surplus Widened in July Wall Street Journal China's trade surplus for July widened to its highest level in a year and a half,