Earlier this month, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker approved a state budget with a last-minute insertion that, in effect, puts an end to workers’ rights to at least one day off a week. Supporters claim the change simply allows employees to volunteer for 7-day work weeks. But it’s not a choice if you could lose your job for failing to meet an employer’s demands, especially in this uncertain economy.
Republicans who pushed through the last-minute change say, without it, workers who wanted to work a full week were legally prohibited. But according to Wisconsin-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the law already allowed a worker and employee who mutually agreed to a 7-day work week to request a waiver from the Department of Workforce Development - and 100% of these requests were granted over the last two years.
The one-day-off-a-week law and other workers‘ rights came about through years of struggle by the labor movement. This latest action by Governor Walker is yet another attack on these hard-won protections that benefit families and entire communities and are considered a part of fundamental human rights and values.
Sign if you refuse to support a candidate who actively campaigns to make workers spend more time away from their families.
We, the undersigned, find Governor Walker’s last-minute budget change to be an attack on workers’ rights that can adversely affect their health and entire communities.
Already, notes the Sentinel Journal in its report on this change, health care officials are concerned over “an American epidemic of stress.” and regular breaks from work are recommended “to allow people to relax and rejuvenate.” It also gives workers time to be with their families and participate in their communities, including helping their neighbors.
Parents who have to work 7 days a week often don’t see their kids for more than an hour or so a day, and they can miss out on school meetings and also struggle when children are sick.
Furthermore, Americans already work more hours per week than workers in other industrialized countries, including Britain, France and Japan, The Sentinel Journal adds that the U.S. “is now one of just 16” nations that don’t require at least one day off a week, which puts it in the same category as Burma and Sudan.
Wisconsin’s repeal of the day-off statute is not about restricting employees who want to work, it’s about putting an end to weekends off for many workers.
Governor Walker, we refuse to support this attack on workers’ rights and any candidate who actively campaigns to make workers spend more time away from their families.
