While Bush talks to cows, workers get milked
" While Bush can jog, build a nature trail, or talk to the cows on his flex time, many
workers report not having enough support from bosses to deal with personal and
family issues. Workers who felt their bosses did not care about having a balance
between work and family reported nearly twice the level of feeling overworked as
those who felt their bosses cared."
By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Staff, 8/29/2001
IN DEFENDING his massive time away from the White House, President
Bush said, ''I love to go walking out there, seeing the cows - occasionally
they talk to me, being the good listener that I am. It's important for all of us in
Washington to stay in touch with the values of the heartland.''
Fine. We should not begrudge Bush his time. Like him or not, he has a tough job. It
would just be nice if the rest of America had the same kind of time to listen to their
children and dogs, let alone the cows. We should also appreciate Bush's wanting to
stay in touch with the values of the heartland. It would be even nicer if the rest of
Americans had the same time away from the office to share with those closest to
their hearts.
The Washington Post recently calculated that Bush has spent 42 percent of his first
eight months as president at vacation spots. By the end of this week, only eight
months into his presidency, he will have logged about 50 days alone at his range in
Crawford, Texas.
While most Americans cannot even think of even a single week of vacation until
they have worked at least six months to a year on the job, Bush is doing what
Europeans take for granted. While Americans remain stuck at an average of two
weeks of vacation, Europeans average between four to six weeks a year.
According to a national study published this year by the nonprofit Families and
Work Institute, 25 percent of Americans feel so much pressure to work that they
do not take all the vacation time they are owed. They may be loyal employees, but
of those workers who curtail their vacations, 55 percent say they feel overworked.
Of the workers who take all their vacation time, 27 percent feel overworked.
While Bush can essentially move the White House to Crawford, too many workers
feel chained to their desks. Surrounded by gizmos that make employers demand
more and faster work, 45 percent of employees said they must do too many tasks.
Contrary to the mythology that technology makes work life easier, the institute
found that 41 percent of employees often or very often use their technology for
work during nonwork hours or off days.
The more the employee felt the employer expected them to be accessible by cell
phone or computers during off time, the more they felt overworked. Technology
has so tethered employees to employers that the institute found that only 30 percent
of workers could say they never have to be accessible during nonwork hours.
While Bush can jog, build a nature trail, or talk to the cows on his flex time, many
workers report not having enough support from bosses to deal with personal and
family issues. Workers who felt their bosses did not care about having a balance
between work and family reported nearly twice the level of feeling overworked as
those who felt their bosses cared.
The institute warned that the levels of overwork may be self-defeating for
profit-hungry employers. It found that 17 percent of employees who report high
levels of being overworked say they make mistakes on the job, compared with 1
percent who say they are not overworked. It found that 43 percent of overworked
employees feel anger toward their employers, compared with 3 percent who are
not overworked. It found that 41 percent of employees who say they are
overworked take care of themselves compared with 66 percent of those who say
they are not overworked. Unhealthy workers, of course, lead to higher health care
costs and lost productivity.
''Some employers believe that pushing employees to do more and do it faster is the
only way to remain competitive in the global economy,'' the institute said. ''Of these,
some will dismiss our findings.... Our findings strongly suggest that every employee
reaches a point where increasing work demands simply become too much - a point
at which personal and family relations, personal health and the quality of work itself
are seriously threatened.''
So let us not begrudge Bush, which would be the easy thing to do. If he is such a
good listener, perhaps on this week that leads up to Labor Day, he will pay
attention not only to the cows but also the workers. America's workers are being
milked so dry they can no longer moo for vacation.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.
This story ran on page 25 of the Boston Globe on 8/29/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. |
