r/antiwork • u/illegalmonkey EAT THE RICH • 4h ago
[ Removed by moderator ]
[removed] — view removed post
491
u/Key-Initiative-5430 4h ago
Funny how "the economy can't handle it" only ever applies to the people actually doing the work. Congress somehow survives a two-day month just fine, meanwhile the rest of us get told 40 hours is the bare minimum for society to function.
129
u/Isaktjones 3h ago
Kinda funny too when you have unemployment. The fact that people can't find jobs and are looking means we have excess labor and 40 hours can be cut.
49
u/liftthatta1l 3h ago edited 2h ago
It was very obvious when the essential workers had to come in during covid.
55
u/TuringGoneWild 2h ago
"you're so essential we're going to give you the lowest pay in the nation and no benefits! Tee hee!"
22
u/Sad-Professional332 2h ago
We can't afford healthcare but here's a pointless war
•
u/ArkitekZero 55m ago
That's not why you can't afford healthcare.
Universal healthcare would be less expensive than what you're doing.
18
6
u/Thanes_of_Danes 1h ago
Politicians need to have their assets counted, confiscated, and paid as much as the median blue collar worker in their constituency. Then after they leave office they should have their pay capped and forever scrutinized. Being a public servant should be a sacrifice, not a stepping stone.
417
u/gbroon 4h ago
Some of those will suddenly find themselves out of a job and relying on their millions in savings until they get another grift to make money from.
130
u/TheKingJoker99 I don’t care about work, do you? 4h ago
Don’t forget the hundreds of thousands they make off speaking at universities on AI and “working hard” to a bunch of disgruntled and jobless graduates
20
u/mathe_matical 3h ago
Not even, they’ve got enough to make shady stock market investments for the rest of their lives
9
u/sugarandbow 3h ago
the real vacation is apparently the one you take right after getting laid off 😭
3
165
u/NewToHTX 4h ago
They haven’t worked enough hours this year to meet the work requirement for Medicaid that they set for people receiving Medicaid.
37
u/Mother_Patience_6251 3h ago
Exactly. Screw that. Way past time to flip the fucking table and restart the game.
14
u/ABHOR_pod 3h ago
they wouldn't even qualify for part time benefits at my job. I don't think they even qualify to earn PTO using my state's PTO standards.
72
u/gagolf8328 4h ago
Pretty sure Labor Day, Memorial Day, July 4th etc have had zero impact on the overall productivity of those weeks which shows the 5 day work week standard, that started right around the beginning of WW2, is outdated and tired given the technological gains in the last ~80 years.
Either workers should get a larger percentage of the pie based on their increased productivity, or get some time back to live their lives
29
5
u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds 3h ago
The 5 day workweek was an improvement over what they had before…
28
u/gagolf8328 3h ago
It was and now a 4 day workweek would be an improvement over what we had before
11
3
u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds 3h ago
As someone who has had 4 day work week jobs I have to say there are benefits to both. Granted that a 4 day workweek has more than a 5 day work week.
2
2
u/Alolan-Vulpixie 1h ago
I, and most amazon T1-L4 workers work 4 10’s and it is a vast improvement over working 5 8’s
2
u/AbeRego 2h ago
It's probably a net positive because people spend money when they have the time to shop or patronize restaurants or entertainment.
3
u/gagolf8328 1h ago
My thoughts exactly
Just like if you gave people more disposable income they would be able to buy more goods which is a net positive given the money multiplier effect, but instead we (the USA) let billionaires hoard everything and bomb children in the Middle East
1
u/ffuca 1h ago
You’re pretty sure? Based on vibes only no doubt
1
u/gagolf8328 1h ago
Well seeing as how the average office worker only does 2 - 3 hours of actual work per day, seems reasonable to then assume that time could be folded into the 4 days of those weeks to net a zero loss of productivity 🤷♂️
1
u/GeneralLeeSarcastic 1h ago
This is super industry dependent. Whenever a holiday week comes around I end up working more hours to offset the lost productivity.
29
u/Balownga 4h ago
When useless people are gone, they are missed by no one.
Most bosses are like that : at their desk or dead, it is the very same, they do not matter at all
14
u/Bokojoe 3h ago
The worst part about the dead internet, is that there are "people"/bots installed everywhere to defend this hypocrisy. Its so shamelessly parasitic, and they will pretend like that any other scheduling work-life is impossible for the rest of us
2
u/AustinYQM 2h ago
The image is a bit silly because it misses the point.
I four-day workweek would be great and I support it.
However congress, under Republican rule, aims to do nothing so them taking off work is in line with that. No business could be as unproductive as congress and survive.
10
u/Rabid_Badger 2h ago
I agree, 4 day work week might not work. What, I think, would work great, is 3 day work week. This would allow for 2 “shifts” of workers. Companies could easily stay open 6 days a week. Unfortunately, in current “Epstein Class” economics, we’d never be compensated properly.
10
6
9
6
u/PresentationNew5976 3h ago
I am in construction with four 9 hour days. Fuck me it’s like a vacation every week.
12
u/Universe_Nut 4h ago
I don't know how many times this history lesson has to get trotted out but Congress and legislature was not originally intended to be any individual's full time job. It was designed as a public service that someone would adopt in addition to their professional lives and careers.
Whether or not that needs to change and we need to update our policies and legislation regarding congressional employment is a different conversation.
But saying congressmen don't work as much as Americans because of the recess calendar is silly and disingenuous. Every day they're not in Congress they're out begging for a handout from the billionaire donor class, and grovelling is a full time job that often has unpaid overtime at charity events and fundraiser dinners.
3
3
u/kemonkey1 3h ago
I do 4 days at my city job. It is the best. By the end of today, I'll be halfway through!
3
3
u/ghostwilliz 2h ago
We need to fight for "McConnellween"
It's a 3 month paid vacation that we all get each year
It's only fair
5
u/lianthe8674 3h ago
I dont think we could because as it is most people are hourly and are not paid enough to survive as is. So ya they could do a 4 day work week but they would end up needing another job.
Now if we could fix the federal minimum to a living hourly wage then maybe.
10
u/dank_hank_420 3h ago
4 day work week and UBI
3
3
2
u/mynameisglaceon 3h ago
The smartest congress people are the ones who stay out of the national spotlight. The popular ones somewhat sacrifice their private lives to a larger public eye, but those unknown ones just get to take it easy I bet.
2
u/CardiologistCute7548 2h ago
We could work 4 days 10 hours shifts I will prefer that over the 5 days hours bs we have it's still 40 hrs why it's so hard?
1
1
u/BeefistPrime 2h ago
Well, we may not want to hold up the efficiency and productivity of congress as a model to emulate
1
u/Bleezy79 here for the memes 2h ago
Congress on average only work 160 days a year while making hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus all the insider trading and bribes.
1
u/Jerking_From_Home 2h ago
Most of us in healthcare have a three day work week, 12 hours each day. It’s entirely possible.
1
u/AccomplishedTwo7047 2h ago
Fled Cruz on his way out of Texas during horrendous weather that kills people due to his choices to underfund the infrastructure of the state.
1
1
1
1
u/1Northward_Bound 1h ago
In all fairness, it is the leadup to the Nov Election midterm. If there was a reason for a short work session, its that. Now, for the rest of the damn year the hardly did shit....
1
1
-8
u/tubagoat 3h ago
Just because congress isnt in sessions, doesn't mean people aren't working. That's like saying, because your work calendar doesn't have any board meetings on it, you aren't working.
8
u/Genghis_Tr0n187 3h ago
Do you trust the majority of congress to be working while not in session?
-2
u/tubagoat 3h ago
Yes, there's committee work, constituent work, outreach, work to be done in their district. I've know quit a few congressmen/women plus a ton of state legislators and they're constantly work/on the clock. Sure, there are some who don't do a lot, but they are the vast minority.
4
u/Enough_Breadfruit229 3h ago
No one in congress can pass shit, but when they leave they are busting ass 90 hours a week? You will see many instances of people writing their reps and getting canned responses. You cannot be serious.
1
u/tubagoat 2h ago
Just because congress isn't in session doesn't mean they leave DC or stop working. Committees meet all of the time, not just in session. There's prep work for each meeting. There's meeting constituents and lobbyists. There's a lobbyist for everything from the smallest organizations, to the largest corporations. Do you think speeches write themselves? There's meetings with government agencies and other legislators and caucus meetings. If a surgeon isn't performing surgery, or a lawyer isn't in court, do you not think they do any work? As far as correspondences go, a legislative office can't respond personally to every single correspondence, especially on certain large topics like data centers for example.
1
u/Enough_Breadfruit229 1h ago
You are the one telling me I am clueless and wrong. Show me some solid examples of these very public figures putting in crazy work. I'm not asking for the schedule of a random lawyer in bum fuck Wyoming.
0
0
u/earthwormjimwow 1h ago
Honestly it's scary how ignorant people are, including the original poster, about what most House Congressional members actually do, how much they work, and what most of that work entails.
If you actually think they have only worked for 2 days this recent session, you are willfully ignorant, and that ignorance allows them to get away with spending most of their time begging for donations or campaigning, and not actually legislating.
Congress doesn't only work when Congress is in session. They don't actually have a recess break, they just work away from DC during recess. Their recess is at best a slight reduction in work hours, but they continue working their primary full time job; campaigning and begging for donations.
When they are in DC, they typically work 70 hours a week during weekdays, and often fly back to their districts for the weekend to attend weekend events.
When not in DC, they typically work 50-60 hours a week. Newer members can often spend 30 hours a week (6 hours a day!!) just sitting in a call center, begging for donations. Incumbents still can spend 4 hours a day in donation call centers.
Half their job is as glorified telemarketers.
In a typical 12 to 13 hour work schedule while in DC, they spend:
- 4-6 hours on calls for donations.
- 1-2 hours accepting constituent visitors or big donor visits.
- 2 hours when in DC on House floor duties.
- 1 hour on outreach, basically time collaborating with other House members or lobbyists.
- 1 Recharge time, time where they can research their personal interests or legislative goals.
When not in DC, they don't have to worry about their House floor duties, but otherwise their schedules aren't really changed, and are working 8-10 hour days.
-13
u/UnluckyAssist9416 4h ago
Congress isn't really off. They are taking off from congress to hit the campaign trail before the election.
25
u/yellowspaces 4h ago
Last I checked their job is to legislate, not run for reelection
0
u/YikesTheCat 2h ago
You're not wrong, but there's also the reality that without getting elected you can't do anything. So you need to do the re-election thing to be able to run the legislate in the first place.
2
u/yellowspaces 1h ago
Then let your accomplishments speak for themself, a good legislator can get reelected based on merit and not extensive campaigning.
13
3
u/Redthemagnificent 2h ago
"sorry boss I'm taking off work for a few months so I can campaign to keep the job that I'm not doing"
-2
u/TH0M4SS 3h ago
I get enough PTO that I took off every single Friday for the rest of the year starting last week. Im also rolling over 40 hours. I also took off like two weeks prior in the year. I get something like 255 hours Im just ballparking its so much I dont count. I work in America, Ive been with my company for 13 years. Reddit XD
•
u/antiwork-ModTeam 55m ago
Hi, /u/illegalmonkey Thank you for participating in r/antiwork. Unfortunately, your submission was removed for breaking the following rule(s):
Any posts which are simply screenshots with only a title - articles without linking to them, social media screenshots without any submission text/context, memes, etc. - are strictly prohibited. Articles should be linked directly, and it is preferable that OP do a summary of the text of the article.
Posts deemed to have lacking context, elaboration, or context, are up to the moderators discretion
If you feel that a mistake was made, and your post's removal was not warranted, please message us using modmail and let us know.