
Get ready for a long weekend at Bernie’s!
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wants Americans to follow in the footsteps of some lawmakers in Congress and cut back on their working hours while getting the same pay.
The self-described “Democratic socialist” passionately advocated for a 32-hour workweek as the national standard while chairing a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing Thursday.
“American workers are now over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s,” noted Sanders, 82.
“Almost all of the economic gains of that technological transformation have gone straight to the top, while wages for workers have remained stagnant or even worse.”
Sanders unveiled the “Thirty-Two Hour Work Week Act” Wednesday, and insisted it was “not a radical idea.”
“The financial gains from the major advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and new technology must benefit the working class, not just corporate CEOs and wealthy stockholders on Wall Street,” he said in a statement. “It is time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life. It is time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.”
The bill would pare the length of the standard working week over the course of four years, while reducing the threshold for overtime compensation at time and a half to workdays that last longer than eight hours and double pay for shifts of more than 12 hours.