Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a new bill on Thursday to reduce the standard American work week to 32 hours, or four days.
The bill, entitled the “Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act,” calls to amend the existing five-day, 40-hour work week established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1940. Under the new policies, workers would continue to earn the same salaries, but the threshold for overtime payments would be lowered.
Those who exceed eight hours per day would be eligible for time-and-a-half pay, and those working longer than 12 hours would earn double pay.
The bill is backed by Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).
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Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (of which he is chair), Sanders addressed the “sad reality that Americans now work more hours than the people of any other wealthy nation.”
Sanders was joined at the hearing by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who contemplated a 32-hour work week during union strikes last year.
“Today, American workers are over 400 percent 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,” Sanders continued in a press release. “That has got to change. 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.”
A.I. and robotics are transforming our economy.
Working people should benefit from this increased productivity, not just billionaires.
It’s time for a 32-hour workweek. pic.twitter.com/zJLvK8c1J5
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 14, 2024
However, Sanders’ proposal was met with considerable pushback from Republican committee members. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, for example, insisted that “it would threaten millions of small businesses operating on a razor-thin margin because they are unable to find enough workers.”
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A Gallup survey from 2019 indicates that more than 50 percent of working adults in the United States work more than 40 hours per week, with at least 40 percent working 50 hours.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average worker puts in 42 hours per week, and more than 8 million people took on second jobs in 2023.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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