On Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) engaged in a fiery exchange with Fox Business correspondent Hillary Vaughn regarding his advocacy for a 32-hour work week. He raised his voice during the discussion, resulting in a memorable moment captured on camera.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and identifies as a democratic socialist, led a committee hearing on Thursday focused on the topic: “Ensuring Workers Reap the Benefits of Technological Advancements and Enhanced Productivity: Advancing a 32-Hour Work Week Without Salary Reduction.”
The clash erupted as Vaughn approached Sanders to inquire about his proposed reduction of the standard workweek. “Can we discuss the 32-hour work week? It appears that Democrats advocate for increased taxes on businesses and higher wages for employees…” Vaughn began, but was promptly cut off by Sanders.
🚨 JUST IN: Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for people to do less work but get the same amount of pay.
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“Really? Is that what you think?” Sanders retorted. “We held a hearing on a 32-hour work week because what we have seen is that over the last fifty years despite a huge increase in worker productivity almost all of the wealth has gone to the top one percent while sixty percent of the people living paycheck to paycheck many of our people are exhausted we work the longest hours of any people in the industrialized world.”
At that moment, Vaughn posed a follow-up question regarding the potential challenges a 32-hour work week might pose for businesses, especially small ones, given Democratic policies advocating for increased taxes and wages, as well as providing compensation for not working. While she was posing her question, Sanders tried to speak over her, interjecting at one point with, “I am capable of raising my voice as loudly as you!”
“When Mr. Bezos pays an effective tax rate lower than the average worker, I think we have a real problem in our tax system… I think that billionaires have got to start paying their fair share of taxes,” Sanders concluded.
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act proposes to trim the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours, aiming to rebalance the work-life equation for employees without cutting their pay. This legislative initiative mirrors shifts in worker productivity, which have surged since the 40-hour workweek was first set in 1940, spurred by technological progress and economic changes.
“Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,” said Sanders on Thursday. “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. 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. 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.”
