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15 day PTO and the 40h week was brought by a conjunction of union work, general striking, and the first elected socialist government in France.

I dunno when the EU laws were created, but the 4th and the 5th week of PTO were also brought by unions (one with the help of q socialist government). The other 14 days (we have 39 total PTO in France, 14 of those can be redeemed as money basically) i don't know where they came from.

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> and the first elected socialist government in France.

So that's the missing piece I was looking for. I think you'll find something similar in Italy.

The big difference in the US is that Americans have never elected a truly labor friendly government. These laws in the EU are not just the result of strong unions. You need government to be on board too and that requires the voters.

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