Monday September 3, 2001 (Labor Day)
Americans Work Longer and Harder
New report out this weekend, U.S. workers are working more hours than workers elsewhere in the industrialized world, and have the highest productivity rates. According to Key Indicators of the Labor Market 2001-2002, the average U.S. worker put in 1,978 hours in 2000, nearly one week more on the job than they did a decade earlier. In contrast, hours of workers in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom have declined.
Based on the latest available information compiled by the ILO, the average Australian, Canadian, Japanese and Mexican worker put in about 100 hours, or about 2.5 weeks, less than the average American. The ILO report shows that British and Brazilians worked about 250 hours (over 5 weeks) less per year while Germans worked nearly 500 hours (about 12.5 weeks) less than Americans. Only workers in the Republic of Korea and the Czech Republic, among countries consider as “developing” or “in transition,” topped the United States in annual number of hours worked, clocking in almost 500 hours and 100 hours more respectively than their American counterparts.
The New York Times reported, “United Nations agency provided some discouraging news to Americans who believe they are overworked, finding that American workers have increased their substantial lead over Japan and all other industrial nations in the number of hours worked each year. The report, issued by the International Labor Organization, found that Americans added nearly a full week to their work year during the 1990’s, climbing to 1,979 hours on average last year, up 36 hours from 1990. That means Americans who are employed are putting in nearly 49 1/2 weeks a year on the job. Americans work 137 hours, or about three and one-half weeks, more a year than Japanese workers, 260 hours (about six and one-half weeks) more a year than British workers and 499 hours (about 12 1/2 weeks) more a year than German workers, the report said. The Japanese had long been at the top for the number of hours worked, but in the mid-1990’s the United States surpassed Japan, and since then it has pulled farther ahead.
The History of Labor Day
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”
But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
Your Own Franchise
Lots of people are looking for work this Labor Day. Many of us have dreamed of owning our own business. I eyeball those crowded restaurants at airports and think to myself that they look like licenses to print money.
How difficult is it to own a franchise and make it work?
Here is a story from WHAS-TV Louisville: “Whether you mend mufflers or make meals, franchising is often an easier and safer way to be your own boss. But you’ll need enough cash to make it work. But if you don’t know a thing about subs, signs, or cell phones, don’t worry. They’ll teach you. Paul Barartta owns a Meineke Muffler franchise. “We have four-week training classes at Meineke University in Charlotte, North Carolina. We’ll teach you everything you need to know about running the business.’ Four weeks to learn doesn’t sound like enough time. Well, the franchise companies insist they’ve made all the mistakes for you and will help you avoid them. Franchising has a better track record than just starting your own business. ”
Here is a site to help you get started on franchising.
Extra Large High School Athletes
Here is a great story from the Christian Science Monitor about the “upsizing” of high school athletes.
“When 6-ft., 5-in. Charlie Porterfield weighs in at football practice, he tips the scales at 302 pounds. But at home, he seems to come in a bit lighter. That’s because Charlie’s size 16 quadruple E shoes slop over the bathroom scale. “I was watching him weigh himself,” says his mother, Lila. “The back of his feet weren’t even on it.”
Charlie is a junior in high school in Jonesville, Va. In many respects, he is becoming the prototypical high school lineman: big, strong, fast, and with feet not built for toe shoes. While the presence of 300-pound linemen is the norm in professional and even collegiate ranks, it is now increasingly filtering down to the high-school gridiron.
That large high-school players are increasingly the norm is indisputable. As late as 1975, one of the top lineman in Michigan, offensive tackle Pat Doyle, weighed 188 pounds. This year, four of the top preseason all-state picks weigh an average of 301 pounds.”
How are the athletes getting so BIG?
The newspaper says: “Although better nutrition and an earlier start in the weight room are part of it, experts say the spread of nutritional supplements like Creatine, which have exploded in use, are also a factor. Available at health-food stores and by mail order, Creatine is usually ingested as a tablet or a powder mixed with liquid.
Although Pittsburgh-based General Nutrition Centers doesn’t release sales figures on Creatine, some analysts put annual revenue from the product at $400 million – up from $50 million in 1996. The dietary supplement industry as a whole topped $12.3 billion in 2000. Widely available in pro and college locker rooms, Creatine is also showing up – by the barrel, in some cases – in high-school gyms. In a National Collegiate Athletic Association survey of 21,000 college athletes released last week, almost 60 percent reported using diet supplements.”
There is a newsletter about Creatine.
More about Creatine from Sportsci.org
Creatine and the treatment of muscle diseases like MS and ALS.
