First No Smoking Next No Working

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Seeing that our government has already set a variety of standards from minimum wages to banning smoking in restaurants over the years, it's only a matter of time before we mimic the oppressive European Union. From the Associated Press:

The European Parliament voted Wednesday in favor of an obligatory 48-hour maximum work week, saying that an opt-out widely used by Britain should be scrapped.

The opt-out, which allows employees to work longer hours if agreed with the employer, has also been applied to specific industries like health care in other countries, including Germany and Luxembourg.

Conservative foreign affairs spokesman Liam Fox called on the government to "use all their diplomatic efforts to ensure that Britain is not saddled with yet more regulation that will cost British jobs."

How long before the U.S. Government tells us we can no longer work 48 hours - less than seven a day? Many families are dependent on 10-hour workdays and will surely suffer when they receive smaller paychecks for less hours worked.

But you might be thinking there's probably a good reason for the restrictions, right? Socialist deputy Alejandro Cercas, who drafted the parliament's report, said the vote was aimed at restoring public confidence in European social values.

"EU citizens are asking what the EU can do for them, and this is one of the things," he said. "Citizens want a social Europe."

Apparently many in the U.S. want one to if they support government regulating smoking, even if a restaurant had an adequate non-smoking section that received no complaints.