32-Hour Workweek for America Proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders

The Guardian reports that this week 'Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to establish a four-day US working week.'
'Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,' Sanders said on Thursday. '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. The financial gains from the major advancements in artificial intelligence, automation and new technology must benefit the working class, not just corporate chief executives 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. It is time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.'

The proposed bill 'has received the endorsement of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, United Auto Workers, the Service Employees International Union, the Association of Flight Attendants' — as well as several other labor unions, reports USA Today:

More than half of adults employed full time reported working more than 40 hours per week, according to a 2019 Gallup poll... More than 70 British companies started to test a four-day workweek last year, and most respondents reported there has been no loss in productivity.

A statement from Senator Sanders:

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, predicted last year that advancements in technology would lead to a three or three-and-a-half-day workweek in the coming years. Despite these predictions, Americans now work more hours than the people of most other wealthy nations, but are earning less per week than they did 50 years ago, after adjusting for inflation.

'Sanders also pointed to other countries that have reduced their workweeks, such as France, Norway and Denmark,' adds NBC News.

USA Today notes that 'While Sanders' role as chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee places a greater focus on shortening the workweek, it is unlikely the bill will garner enough support from Republicans to become federal law and pass in both chambers.'

And political analysts who spoke to ABC News 'cast doubt on the measure's chances of passage in a divided Congress where opposition from Republicans is all but certain,' reports ABC News, 'and even the extent of support among Democrats remains unclear.'

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