And he would have had the very same moment asking this to an HR rep. from my company here in France.
We froggies might be bashed here and then in the international media, we however have paid sick leave, 5 weeks paid holidays per year (6 weeks in my case due to a bunch of extra working hours) and an all-covering healthcare insurance for as low as 65,75€ per month thanks to my employer who pays for the rest (it was the same at my previous company).
As an anecdote: the generalization of paid holidays is a right that was won for all here since 1936, but it was already effective in Germany and Italy in the early 1900s. Each and every serious study about it demonstrated how both the workers and companies' productivity benefit from them, and therefore the overall economy.
One would argue that us from the 'Old Continent' learned from the past - i.e. the colonial era - and that we figured that treating workers as slaves does definitely no longer fit the times we live in…
I do hope my Americans friends soon get to reach the same goal.
3 comments:
We have, in Canada, similar work conditions as those in real social democracy in the world.
The problem with USA is that MONEY is the only engine that pushes the society and every one is fighting to get more than the othre no matter what.
There are lots and lots of folks here who hope for the same. Sadly, the gerrymandering has put us in a tough spot. But there is hope, I think. The Tennessee legislature has made a very huge gaffe yesterday. They have outed the GOP for what they are and what they stand for even worse than Florida. The young people are starting to pay attention.
Jean-Luc: j'ai toujours eu du mal à comprendre comment deux grands pays comme le Canada et les Etats-Unis qui sont non seulement voisins mais aussi partagent une aussi longue frontière en occupant à eux deux le continent nord-américain et parlant la même langue, peuvent être aussi dissemblables quant à la gouvernance de leurs populations. Je me souviens d'un professeur d'anglais dans les années 80 qui nous racontait par expérience quelque-chose comme "d'un côté d'un des grands lacs vous avez les américains qui ferment les portes de leurs maisons à clef et possèdent une arme à feu ; de l'autre côté vous avez les canadiens qui sortent faire leur courses sans forcément se soucier de verrouiller leur porte..."
Pat: yes I believe there is hope for your country - starting with the forthcoming elections, grand or not - knowing that the young voters no longer wish to be registered under what they see as old-fashioned labels such as Reps-VS-Dems. From where I stand it seems that Independents are becoming the true lever when it comes to going to the poll. Most of them being "millennial". So yes, maybe there is hope after all :-)
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