OAN’s James Meyers
8:26 AM -Thursday, March 14, 2024
Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill on Wednesday that would establish a standard four-day workweek in the United States without reduction in pay.
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act proposed by Sanders (I-Vt.) would reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours over four years by lowering the threshold for overtime pay for non-exempt employees.
“Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,” Sanders said in a press release. “Today, American workers are over 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago. That has got to change.”
Additionally, it would require overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times a worker’s regular salary for work days longer than 8 hours, and it would require overtime pay at double a worker’s regular salary for workdays that last longer than 12 hours.
The proposed bill would also protect workers pay and benefits to ensure there’s no loss in pay.
A press release described the bill as “an important step toward ensuring that workers share in the massive increase in productivity driven by artificial intelligence, automation, and new technology.”
“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. It is time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life,” Sanders wrote.
Sanders introduced the bill alongside Senator Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif.) introduced companion legislation in the House.
“While CEOs’ wages continue to increase, our workers are finding themselves doing more, yet earning less than they have in decades,” Butler wrote in a statement. “The Thirty-Two-Hour Workweek Act would allow hardworking Americans to spend more time with their families while protecting their wages and making sure profits aren’t only going to a select few.”
However, opposition have argued that companies cannot afford to reduce work hours while maintaining the same amount of wages.
“Companies need to produce the same level of work, so they may need to hire and train more people,” said Mary Elizabeth Elkordy, founder of the remote-based company Elkordy Global Strategies, in a previous interview with Fox News Digital.
Sanders also claimed recent technological developments, including gains due to artificial intelligence, have helped provide a way for Americans to reduce work hours.
“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,” Sanders said. “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.”
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