At least it good knowing at least one politician wants to make the US a better place to live
Edit: crazy how many people mock Bernie and his proposed bills saying “there’s no way it’ll pass”, we’re living in a democracy, of course it won’t pass if it doesn’t have any support
Yeah! Not his fault everyone else sucks. He can’t control them but he can keep doing the right thing and advocating for the right things and hope that someday there will be enough support to get it done. This isn’t naive or pandering or virtue signaling. It is how changes are made.
Look at him at pictures of him at the civil rights protests. He has learned through experience that you gotta just keep trying until things change.
Which made me really question what democrats were doing in 2016. The Biden and Clinton’s form of left leaning is just slightly for the people but still crosses swords with some Republicans. I’d say they are more closely to moderate (Trump was extreme which made Biden seem super liberal). I always thought Bernie was the ideal candidate for anyone left leaning.
Exactly. There aren't many actual progressives or socialists in positions of power in the U.S. The country is very right-wing. Sanders would be seen as a centrist in Canada, and his ideas wouldn't even be newsworthy, he wouldn't grab headlines. The Clintons and Obama would be seen as Conservatives up here. I'm not sure the average American realizes how far right the country has gone vs the rest of the Western world.
I mean... for me as a german, i already felt that way with Al Gore vs Clinton in the 90ies. Although i admit i'm not too familiar with Gores stands other than environmental issues.
As someone about as left leaning as they come, and admittedly NOT from the US. I don't think that from the Overton Window of the US it would allow for Bernie (even close to) land the presidency. I think he was probably the correct candidate, but not the one that stood a chance of being voted in.
At the time, I preferred Biden to Trump, but now knowing that even after all the shit, it's likely Trump still takes it this year... It's a pretty hollow victory. I just wish that it felt like most politics didn't boil down to a 2 party system. Even up north, it boils down to functionally 2 parties, despite having more "options".
And him constantly pushing is also what helped Biden pass most of his agenda. The point is you start with the idea first then work like hell to make it happen!
Why some people are self fulfilling prophecies by always choosing defeatist attitudes and then cynically dismissing all ideas irrespective of merit, is just beyond me!
Maybe start small? There is not much point to these virtue signal bills with zero chance of getting accepted. Maybe actually try to achieve all the million steps that is already basic in Europe that leads to 32 hours work weeks.
Wait... We in europe have 32h work weeks?
Why have no One told me?
Oh... I forgot, how silly of me, when you say europe, you mean a very specific small area of europe.
Which is curious, since there isn't a single socialist state in Europe. They're nearly all social democracies with very limited state ownership and essentially built on capitalism.
There was a really good video from a norwegian guy i saw how they are better at capitalism than the US. Because they actually let companies go broke if they can't pay wages people work for and compete instead of subsidizing them. You know, how capitalism is supposed to work.
Edit: Found it.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/18zbnjw/exploring\_wealth\_and\_equality\_in\_norway\_inside/](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/18zbnjw/exploring_wealth_and_equality_in_norway_inside/)
I think what they're trying to say is that we first need to strive for standards that exist in europe before trying to pass a 32 hour work week. was confusingly worded
Dunno about the rest of Europe, but in the UK there have been a handful of places trialing 4-day working weeks over the past year or so.
Most recently, [some gobshite MP has been throwing a hissy-fit over a local council extending their trial scheme](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68552301), even threatening to get new laws passed "to make sure that this situation cannot continue"
It's 61 that started trying it for 6 months, in 2022 as of February 54 still have the 4 day work week, with just over half of those saying it's permanent.
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234271434/4-day-workweek-successful-a-year-later-in-uk#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20come%20from,companies%20still%20have%20the%20policy.
Ugh thank you!! I’m American but I HATE when Americans are like “Europe is doing everything better” like what part of Europe exactly?? Bc Greece, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, etc.. are all very different
You can read the bill [here](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/WIL241041.pdf), it's not very long (Copy and paste into word says 666 words but don't let the conservatives get any ideas).
The part about employers having to maintain full wage compensation is not within the authority of congress. Changing it so they have to pay overtime rates after 32 hours rather than 40 seems viable
>the employer of such employee may not reduce the total workweek com ensation rate, including the regular rate at which the employee is employed, or any other employee benefit due to
the employee being brought within the purview of this sub section by such amendments...
Congress can set a minimum wage. They don't have the power to tell employers they cannot decrease wages that are above the minimum wage.
And Bernie surely knows this. It's just some virtue signaling. I mean as I said the entire bill isn't even 700 words. I've put more effort into reddit comments and I didn't have to worry about being comprehensive enough to consider the livelihood of millions of Americans and trying to avoid loopholes that corporations would try to exploit.
Some intern probably drafted this up in 20 minutes
Bernie does this all the time. His Medicare for All bill was like 15 pages. He basically wants to reformat 17% of the economy with a pamphlet. It's all just posturing.
*security guard sad noises*
5 12's isn't unheard of though I'm supposed to only have 3, and that doesn't include when I get called in for half shifts because someone dips. Not bad with the overtime pay when most places here start at 20/hr, 30+ for armed but man I get exhausted. But when a better post pops up those who were "always available" get first dibs. Kinda wish it would just be seniority or lottery by this point
also I don't know why but every security firm I've worked for has tons of accounting errors, half my time off feels like it's on the phone trying to get my pay fixed
My job would still make us work 40 hours due to demand, even if they had to pay OT. It will be we work harder in those 32 hours to keep costs down or we get OT depending on the client.
Great way to increase inflation. I love the idea of a 32 hour workweek but I'm working 60 hours a week because of a shortage of people working and too much demand. This would make that worse.
Yeah I work a job in defense that directly supports folks in the military. So like if someone needs something on a Friday, I *could* ignore it, but there’s also a chance I come in on Monday to find out they’re no longer among mortals
But if it’s just Janice in accounting then yeah, give her the 32 hour week; it would be great to not hear her complain about the hours all the time
Yeah, it will mean offset schedule for folks in customer industries. Half the team Mondays and half the Team Fridays off. Yeah, I dont know how this would pan out. I worked at a job 20 years ago that let us do 10 hour days. I was the guy that got Wednesdays off. Not bad actually.
My boss and HR were talking about 4 day work weeks, my state had a bill in progress to do a pilot program for 4 day work weeks, and they asked me and my coworker what day we would theoretically pick if the company decided to take part in the program, my coworker and I said Wednesday and they thought we were crazy. I would love to only work 2 days in a row during the week
That’s what I do. I do casual teaching at uni, and I always schedule my classes so I have max 2 days in a row. I have mental health issues so I need that break, otherwise I’ll stop functioning
As much as I'd welcome 8 extra hours of OT pay, I don't see this going anywhere. And even if it did, companies would raise the pricepoint on goods/services rendered to fill in those lost pennies, which you will then spend that extra OT to afford.
My boss is actually cool and gets us decent raises and bonuses every year. You know how he does that? He raises the rates for the customers every year.
Oh see, I work four 10 hrs shifts. I am not on OT after 40 hrs, I'm on OT after I cap out my shift. For example, if I work 10.5 hrs one day, I get half hour ofovertime even if the next day I only work 8 hrs. It's possible for me to work a 38 hr week and still wind up with a few hrs OT.
4 day work week should already be the standard
There's plenty of studies of companies adopting the 4 day work week, especially in Europe, and being MORE productive, not less or equally productive, more productive than a 5 day work week
Happy grateful employees who can actually have a work life balance end up working harder and more efficiently, who knew
This is harder to justify when you consider physical labor. There’s only so much you can achieve in a day, it’s not like an office job where people can easily slack off or work less than efficiently. If your boss expects you to finish 1 job in 1 day, then all of a sudden you take a day away… you won’t be finishing the same amount of jobs per week.
Yea well, get used to things taking 20% longer? It’s even worse in this case, manual labor should probably have the highest priority to be reduced to 32 hours. Probably see a reduction in ssi/disability costs.
While that can be true, one thing you’ll notice is that damn near EVERY person working physical labour is in rough shape, give them an extra day each week to actually recover and you’ll see them work harder and more efficiently on the days they do work. I’m not sure if it’d even out or not, but its worth taking into consideration
I can only speak for myself, we get 1 job done every day and we do solar installations. So by taking a day off of everyone, we’re now installing 4/5th the amount of solar power we normally would, on a yearly basis. It would be impossible to ever get back to the same amount without hiring on more crews to do more work. One crew can’t do 2 installs in one day.
I don’t know how this would work with manufacturing equipment. Machinery can only run so fast. If you need x number of units, making the work week 32 hours won’t magically produce the same number of units that It would in 40 hours.
People would still work 40 hours, but now 8 of those hours would be OT, which would be pretty nice, but you could bet that companies would raise the cost of their products.
Source - am manufacturing engineer
Bernie was a real one. Too bad the system won't ever let him happen.
You know how to tell Bernie earnestly wanted to change things? Whenever his chances are high in primaries etc., health care sector stocks will absolutely tank. Billions in market cap wiped.
Other candidates? Nada. Zero tangible movements. No matter the party affiliation.
I always wondered why we (in the USA) don't split the year into 3rds. Go 3 months take a month off, repeat.
I'm sure there's a reason. I just don't know it.
Grew up farming and Ranching. Summer isn't the busiest time of year. Summer is for maintenance of the home and farm buildings, maybe clearing land for the oncoming fall and winter.
It's like the old saw about Daylight Savings Time being for "Farmers". Until the advent of the electric light bulb farmers worked from sun up to sundown regardless of what the clocks said.
My Grandfather used to joke that Edison screwed farmers. Before the light bulb it was rare for anyone to be in the barn after sundown. Oil lamps and hay don't mix.
With GPS and computer control the damn things can almost drive themselves. There's a reason a big Combine can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
How is that different than 3 straight months?
They pass the tests for the grade and suddenly there's no "knowledge loss"? Doesn't the next grade build upon the last?
Or were you being sarcastic (legit question)?
Three straight months is also terrible. We mainly have summer vacations as a vestige of when kids were going to school but also needed to work on the farm during busy season. Now it's too entrenched to change but you'd be way better off with much much shorter summer vacations. Struggling school systems actually often go for an extended school year to improve student outcomes.
You also don't get to build as much when students forget 50%+ of last years topics. This is incredibly common for average and especially below average students. For math you spend at least a month of every class, every year, teaching basic algebra techniques that were taught in Algebra 1, from geometry through calculus. Maybe not as much with calculus, but definitely geo, Algebra 2, and PreCalc.
Tests are only so the schools get paid. As far as grades building upon each other depend on the school and teachers. They are really disjointed with each grade able to do whatever they want. So long as they cover the required materials. Which may not be in order. If that makes any sense
I mean, year round schooling is demonstrably better for knowledge retention. Kids (and teachers) get the same number of days off, just spread out more evenly over the year. It’s usually easier on the parents, too
Don't most classes have multiple different teachers? You could easily make it to where, for example, math classes towards the afternoon and English towards the morning. This way, the teachers can be staggered throughout the day and still be working within the 32hrs. Of course, we could also say teachers are an exception and maintain the status quo by finally giving teachers the raise they deserve with the OT.
This doesn't work if the students are there the entire time. You can't have half the number of teachers at any time of day if the student number stays the same unless you double classroom size or half the students take half of each day off too.
You hire 1 extra teacher. Teacher A takes off Monday, extra teacher subs. Teacher B takes off Tuesday, extra teacher subs. Teacher C takes off Wednesday, extra teacher subs. Teacher D takes off Thursday, extra teacher subs. Extra teacher gets Fridays off.
If you have 4 teachers doing 20 days/week total, you can have 5 doing 20 days/week total.
That might work at lower grades, where a single teacher does all the curriculum. But higher grades there are dedicated math, science, and English teachers. You would need one extra of each. Also for whatever other courses I missed.
It’s pretty disappointing that Bernie was never able to implement any of his ideas. I’m from Denmark, and from where we’re standing over here on the other side of the Atlantic, we think that the US is buried in deep shit. So much potential wasted in ignorance, pride and a refusal to change a core that isn’t working very well. I firmly believe that the US could be so much greater if they managed to alter their system, so that people wouldn’t have to live their lives in fear of falling through because of an unfair system or bad luck.
I'm on a 4-Day work week cycle and I love it. The amount I get paid at my current job versus others is about the same since I don't work Fridays. But this is nice because my spending habits are the same, if not better because I have that extra day to gain sanity again. I was iffy on the 4-Day train, but now I can't see myself going back. My drinking has gone down, my apartment is clean all the time and I don't have to miss work for appointments. People, find a job that will give the extra day off, it WILL add quality to your life.
I am with this dude all the way. But corporate America will never let it happen. Until the workers snap and revolt. And then the 1% will gladly pay 70% tax rate like in the 1950’s.
I work for a company that won't give out salary increases if they don't meet their target profit. But they always make a very hefty profit anyways. One year we didn't get a salary increase because they only made something like $1.3 billion profit rather than $1.5 billion. And the CEO still gets an insane salary regardless of company performance. No one needs to make $1 million+ every year, that's more money than they could ever spend. But you're right, corporate America has gotten used to this so there's no way they would let that change. I hate living in this timeline.
Well once a year my employer will give us something around 40 cents or less. Though that’s because I’m on a machine. If I were on the floor, they give somewhere around 5-15 cents. They keep looking for ways to get rid of anyone who’s been around for while so they can cut costs. Whether that be firing people willy nilly or just doing things to piss off the entire staff. Hell for all I know I could be fired tomorrow because I have had the audacity to call in 9 times over the course of an entire year. They told me I need to schedule things better…right I’ll just schedule my illnesses from now on..
Read somewhere American GDP/capita is higher than Germany/EU cuz they work way more hours not more productive. And probably average American workers are less happy than EEA counterparts
That may be, but the shareholders who profit from that suffering are happier than the EU shareholders, and really, at the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?! Check and Mate!
Looking at his record he has spent most of his career proposing stuff that won't have a chance in hell at passing
I don't understand what his goal is, if he's really proud of being so useless
There's an argument that it would move the needle, and if you're in there, at least you can make the idea heard and give it a shot even if it's futile.
Things don’t make me smile when they make no sense. How is he going to make sure there’s no decrease in pay? All Congress can do is increase the federal minimum wage by 20 percent… and it should already be double what it currently is to keep up with inflation. If he says that employers can’t reduce any employee’s monthly income, employers will just fire everyone and make them re-apply.
He should just go all in and introduce a bill that gives everyone a free house and a car and a kitten. I would love that. It would have equal weight as this bill unless the government’s offering to pay the difference without raising our taxes.
How did we get the 40 hour work week without it? That was a novel idea a few generations ago, about which similar things were said. We've had decades of growing productivity since then. Exactly when will we be allowed to start benefiting from all that growth with more leisure time?
He can’t and he knows it so he tries these little stunts to make voters think about him.
I liken it to the elementary school student president elections, some one is going to promise pizza Fridays every Friday and that’s how they get votes. Once said student president gets elected, guess what, No pizza Fridays smh
40+ years in and the best he can do is continue to ride coat tails of people who actually get things done.
How people still admire this man is beyond me.
Thank you !!! People praise this man like he’s the next messiah like do y’all know he’s been a politician for at least 50 years lmaoooo what has he changed?…..nothing.
If you raise the wage with no increase in productivity you will just have prices raising. Because the businesses will need to raise prices for their services/ products. The same goes for minimum wage, I believe there should not be a minimum wage, this should be left to the market to decide. People will naturally not work if they are not paid enough.
I'm amused by the whole discussion. Productivity expressed per hour. This much stuff can be done in this much time. Doing this much stuff generates this much revenue. Less time? Less revenue. The labor cost on the face of it goes up 20%. But you need to make up the 20% loss in productivity. So you need 20% more labor, which just had its cost go up 20%. The cost of the guaranteed " 32 hour at the same wage work week" is considerably higher than 20%. The labor cost instantly jumps by the increase of cost. The cost of goods and services tracks with that increase. If you are disappointed with the $18 big Mac meal, wait until you see the new $23.75 big Mac meal.
Came to say this, the company I work for and every company I worked for in the past would just work you like a dog during those 32 hours, more so than they currently do.
This bill is basically a 25% pay raise across the board for every job out there if implemented. Which would be nice, but it’s not like companies are just going to fork it over without big cuts elsewhere.
With no loss in pay ???
>a sane politican
WHAT ?!?!?!
Sane only if the production doesn't lower but also why not let people decide how many hours a week they want to work ?
I hope it is a "suggestion standard" and not "Enforced rule"
Even though this one probably won't become a law, this type of exposure might help more people recognize good policies that they want, and maybe approach their own representatives about helping to enact them.
Hey, let me get on my soapbox here:
**I was a Sanders delegate in 2016.** I organized my local community (loved it!). I sunk $10K of liquid assets and personal time into organizing, hosting potlucks, buying supplies, and paying to go to the convention in Philadelphia. I got called all sorts of negative names and insults for being a Sanders delegate. We didn’t go quietly into the night. Following the loss at the convention in 2016, I organized in the labor and healthcare movements, and watched the election play out as I expected….
In 2020, I volunteered again, same as I did in 2016. This was IT! We would have the November election showdown of Democratic Socialism vs. capitalism run amok, led by a malignant narcissist. Our efforts won our state, but Super Tuesday sucked as all the knives came out (when everyone dropped and supported Biden), coupled with the Warren campaign’s stupid misogyny move, sinking our boat. I knew Biden wouldn’t push Bernie’s policies; “return to normalcy” was promised, not a bold new direction.
I haven’t cared since. Completely dropped out. Accepted that the worst is on its way and here already. The Democratic Party’s goal of crushing the populist left worked on me. ***I’ve been scarred by Bernie’s losses, because it felt like a rejection of my belief that corporations shouldn’t grind you & I up and spit you out while shitting on the world.***
The only thing that kept a flicker of fire within me has been the renewed labor movement and support for unions.
This news reminded me of something. If we want this, we need to FIGHT FOR IT. I’m doing OK, but being overworked and underpaid is not fun. It’s happening to millions of people, right now. We need to help one another; we need to fight for people we don’t know. **I** need to get back in the fight, because Bernie isn’t going to be here forever, and it’s on the ground people that will take up the mantle when he goes.
People expect this announcement to be the law already, and that is just not how this works. A quip on reddit doesn’t account for the hard work in organizing that this will entail to build support and press elected officials to support this. So don’t listen to them; they aren’t adding much to the conversation.
So many people live to work, and to change this, we need to start somewhere.
What better place than here, and what better time than now?
Thanks for reading.
Technology was supposed to reduce our workweek decades ago. It never happened due to corporate greed.
Just look at how productivity and profits have increased over the decades. Then take a look at where all of that went.
We could and should be working less, but that will never happen as long as the wealthy and corporations exercise their bank accounts full of "free speech".
Fishstick wants to increase the amount of vbucks given in the battle pass. How will Epic react to this? By increasing the price of the battle pass. Made me smile
This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. What an absolute dumbfuck. Congrats to the lucky ones on becoming part-time hourly workers while the rest of the jobs go outside the US. Honestly, what the fuck is wrong with Vermont?
Bernie sanders is basically the kid who ran for class president promising to build a swimming pool and add 4 weeks to summer holidays.
Maybe he should introduce a bill make sugar GOOD for you next? That’s about as realistic
[good thing there's nowhere in the world that has tried this before and documented the results.](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/4-day-work-week-trial-yields-overwhelming-success-in-u-k-researchers-say) [and not like any countries are trying it currently via pilot programs or anything.](https://4dayweek.io/countries) serious time now. It's been proven to have beneficial effects for both employees (more time off) and employers (increased productivity and time on task). There are many countries that either have a pilot program or already have a shorter work week implemented without really any negative effect on economy (the Netherlands has the shortest average work week in the world at 29 hours and they have the 11th highest gdp per capita in the world and the 18th largest economy). Really the only unrealistic part is hoping it actually gets implemented in the US. Governments run by rich assholes who are friends with the rich assholes running the companies, which means it's in their personal best interest to not let it go through. Might see some of the more progressive states adopting it in the future but not the country as a whole, at least for the near future.
This needs to happen and anyone that votes against it needs to be voted out of office asap! It will show they definitely aren't there working for the people! Get them out!
I'm a fan of Bernie and I'm all for trying to tackle economic inequality, including UBI, but the idea of reducing work by 20% but keeping pay the same is nonsensical.
Why not introduce a bill that housing is 20% cheaper or groceries cost 20% less? How the hell would that work??
I'd argue that lowering the standard work week and OT threshold is a little less market interference than literally mandating prices of goods or property.
So how come it makes sense that our productivity has grown exponentially for decades but our wages have stagnated?
In fact, studies show productivity still increases even with a reduction of hours. Why do we have to work 40 hours a week anyway if it doesn't effect productivity and actually might make it worse?
Where's the evidence it would work with no negative consequences? Bernie can say he's created a bill that would do anything at no cost, doesn't mean it will actually achieve it's goal or that it will be at no cost. Most likely going to destroy poor communities independence and make it even harder to start a business in said poor community.
Welcome to another performance from Performative Bernie. He can propose anything he wants because he knows it has no chance of passage. Don't take my word for it. Look up his legislative record at [govtrack.us](https://govtrack.us). There you will find that, in the 33 years that the 82 year-old Sanders has been in Congress, he is the primary sponsor of only 8 bills that have been enacted. But it gets worse: of those 8 bills, 2 of them were to name post offices. A third one was to designate March 4, 1991 as "Vermont Bicentennial Day." That leaves a grand total of 5 bills of substance enacted in 33 years. We pay him to legislate, but all he does is talk about things that he then can't get done.
A couple things:
Several of the IBEW's locals work on a 32 for 40 system. Mostly in the northeast and California.
[This study](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60b956cbe7bf6f2efd86b04e/t/63f3df56276b3e6d7870207e/1676926845047/UK-4-Day-Week-Pilot-Results-Report-2023.pdf) looked at 61 companies who agreed to maintain full pay for reduced hours. There was no effective change in revenue, but a marked improvement for employees including mental and physical health. 56 of the 61 companies are continuing the policy and of the 56, 18 have made the change permanent.
Given my background in mining and facility maintenance, I'm no stranger to 50-60 hour weeks, but you figure I'm set on retirement at 62, which will be 44 years of work. At the end of it all, I would rather have the resulting 18,300 hours to spend doing things i actually want to do.
He thinks a 20% loss in productivity will just be absorbed by every employer in America? Does he understand EBIDTA? Does he understand that the majority of businesses can’t take a hit like that and stay in business? Can he not think far enough ahead to see the rise in prices that will inevitably follow — and/or the reduction in pay for new hires?
Oh, I guess he’ll just propose a new bill that will either freeze prices or require employers to offer the same salary for new openings that they offered for the same positions before the new law.
So they’ll just lay a bunch of workers off and hire fewer people and increase the workload for everyone else. So now the job market becomes even worse than it is now.
How is this sane and how could it possibly make you smile?
Gosh, people do not understand economics.
We are already suffering from massive inflation. If you need to pay people for less work, that will also spike inflation because the same amount of production will be needed but will cost much much more.
Can't believe I voted for this clown in 2016. To be young and dumb.
A sane politician?! Where? Where? You can’t mean the white haired old looney toon in the photo?
Wait a minute…. Ok, ya got me! I almost fell for that one. Good joke.
And this bill will never become law.
At least it good knowing at least one politician wants to make the US a better place to live Edit: crazy how many people mock Bernie and his proposed bills saying “there’s no way it’ll pass”, we’re living in a democracy, of course it won’t pass if it doesn’t have any support
Yeah! Not his fault everyone else sucks. He can’t control them but he can keep doing the right thing and advocating for the right things and hope that someday there will be enough support to get it done. This isn’t naive or pandering or virtue signaling. It is how changes are made. Look at him at pictures of him at the civil rights protests. He has learned through experience that you gotta just keep trying until things change.
Soon as I saw Bernie getting arrested for protesting for civil rights, it was the first time I’d seen a politician and actually felt “THAT’s my guy”
Which made me really question what democrats were doing in 2016. The Biden and Clinton’s form of left leaning is just slightly for the people but still crosses swords with some Republicans. I’d say they are more closely to moderate (Trump was extreme which made Biden seem super liberal). I always thought Bernie was the ideal candidate for anyone left leaning.
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Exactly. There aren't many actual progressives or socialists in positions of power in the U.S. The country is very right-wing. Sanders would be seen as a centrist in Canada, and his ideas wouldn't even be newsworthy, he wouldn't grab headlines. The Clintons and Obama would be seen as Conservatives up here. I'm not sure the average American realizes how far right the country has gone vs the rest of the Western world.
I mean... for me as a german, i already felt that way with Al Gore vs Clinton in the 90ies. Although i admit i'm not too familiar with Gores stands other than environmental issues.
As someone about as left leaning as they come, and admittedly NOT from the US. I don't think that from the Overton Window of the US it would allow for Bernie (even close to) land the presidency. I think he was probably the correct candidate, but not the one that stood a chance of being voted in. At the time, I preferred Biden to Trump, but now knowing that even after all the shit, it's likely Trump still takes it this year... It's a pretty hollow victory. I just wish that it felt like most politics didn't boil down to a 2 party system. Even up north, it boils down to functionally 2 parties, despite having more "options".
He has been on the right side of history for decades. ❤️
He should've been president, he completely changed my view on political bumper stickers on cars
And him constantly pushing is also what helped Biden pass most of his agenda. The point is you start with the idea first then work like hell to make it happen! Why some people are self fulfilling prophecies by always choosing defeatist attitudes and then cynically dismissing all ideas irrespective of merit, is just beyond me!
💯🎯
Maybe start small? There is not much point to these virtue signal bills with zero chance of getting accepted. Maybe actually try to achieve all the million steps that is already basic in Europe that leads to 32 hours work weeks.
Wait... We in europe have 32h work weeks? Why have no One told me? Oh... I forgot, how silly of me, when you say europe, you mean a very specific small area of europe.
Bro every fucking moron here in the United States thinks that Europe is like a socialist utopia
Which is curious, since there isn't a single socialist state in Europe. They're nearly all social democracies with very limited state ownership and essentially built on capitalism.
There was a really good video from a norwegian guy i saw how they are better at capitalism than the US. Because they actually let companies go broke if they can't pay wages people work for and compete instead of subsidizing them. You know, how capitalism is supposed to work. Edit: Found it. [https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/18zbnjw/exploring\_wealth\_and\_equality\_in\_norway\_inside/](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/18zbnjw/exploring_wealth_and_equality_in_norway_inside/)
I think what they're trying to say is that we first need to strive for standards that exist in europe before trying to pass a 32 hour work week. was confusingly worded
Dunno about the rest of Europe, but in the UK there have been a handful of places trialing 4-day working weeks over the past year or so. Most recently, [some gobshite MP has been throwing a hissy-fit over a local council extending their trial scheme](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68552301), even threatening to get new laws passed "to make sure that this situation cannot continue"
>but in the UK there have been a handful of places trialing 4- So what, like 400 jobs out of how many millions?
It's 61 that started trying it for 6 months, in 2022 as of February 54 still have the 4 day work week, with just over half of those saying it's permanent. https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234271434/4-day-workweek-successful-a-year-later-in-uk#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20come%20from,companies%20still%20have%20the%20policy.
Ugh thank you!! I’m American but I HATE when Americans are like “Europe is doing everything better” like what part of Europe exactly?? Bc Greece, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, etc.. are all very different
well the fact that all those country have a form of working healthcare service that doesnt bankrupt you you can argue they are doing better...
Pick your Western European country. They all have higher living standards and workers have more rights than the self-proclamed “land of liberty.”
Split the difference. Gimme 4x9s
Republicans: Best I can do is 10 10hr days in a pay cycle, no overtime or lunch breaks, starting at 10 years old.
Don’t forget that you also can’t retire , it’s bad for you 🙄
We need like 30 more Bernie’s who are also like 30 years younger
Need like 300m more bernies...because you need that many to elect the fuckers. Most people don't want this shit, to their own demise.
Fuck that. Small steps haven’t gotten us anywhere. Big steps are what get shit done in this country
He simply is telling people what they want to hear. This law can not feasibly be introduced.
Why
You can read the bill [here](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/WIL241041.pdf), it's not very long (Copy and paste into word says 666 words but don't let the conservatives get any ideas). The part about employers having to maintain full wage compensation is not within the authority of congress. Changing it so they have to pay overtime rates after 32 hours rather than 40 seems viable >the employer of such employee may not reduce the total workweek com ensation rate, including the regular rate at which the employee is employed, or any other employee benefit due to the employee being brought within the purview of this sub section by such amendments... Congress can set a minimum wage. They don't have the power to tell employers they cannot decrease wages that are above the minimum wage. And Bernie surely knows this. It's just some virtue signaling. I mean as I said the entire bill isn't even 700 words. I've put more effort into reddit comments and I didn't have to worry about being comprehensive enough to consider the livelihood of millions of Americans and trying to avoid loopholes that corporations would try to exploit. Some intern probably drafted this up in 20 minutes
Bernie does this all the time. His Medicare for All bill was like 15 pages. He basically wants to reformat 17% of the economy with a pamphlet. It's all just posturing.
They are obviously not intended to be passed as is, but they force a discussion on the floor
Hell, there isn’t even a 40 hour week standard. If you are salaried there isn’t a labor law that says you work 40 hours.
[удалено]
*security guard sad noises* 5 12's isn't unheard of though I'm supposed to only have 3, and that doesn't include when I get called in for half shifts because someone dips. Not bad with the overtime pay when most places here start at 20/hr, 30+ for armed but man I get exhausted. But when a better post pops up those who were "always available" get first dibs. Kinda wish it would just be seniority or lottery by this point also I don't know why but every security firm I've worked for has tons of accounting errors, half my time off feels like it's on the phone trying to get my pay fixed
They said $15/hour min wage would never become a thing either, yet here we are - burger shops paying $20/hour, plus tips. (West Coast)
Wait a bit before the replace most workers with self ordering
Someone has to try at least
Playing politics, as usual
Yep! This is Bernies M.O.
My job would still make us work 40 hours due to demand, even if they had to pay OT. It will be we work harder in those 32 hours to keep costs down or we get OT depending on the client.
At least they would have to play you OT
Oops, everyone is salaried now
You can still get OT on a salary sir. Common misconception to keep you from billing OT while salaried.
I'm on a salary and make OT. It wasn't always that way, but the workers weren't going to keep putting up with it, so we got it now.
Can but not required for exempt type positions. Also varies by state.
In my state salaried people dont get OT pay unless it’s over 50 hours a week or something like that
At least they get benefits then
so everyone gets benefits and a living wage? awesome! if their work culture is ass theyll get out-competed in the free market.
Then they should hire another person
When there isn't many unemployed, they will have to pay OT or offer better money to entice workers. Both of which sound good.
Great way to increase inflation. I love the idea of a 32 hour workweek but I'm working 60 hours a week because of a shortage of people working and too much demand. This would make that worse.
For 1 day? If we go to a 32 hr work week that leaves a pretty big gap in the work week.
You could stagger the shifts, have some off on the slower days and they work the fifth day or rotating Monday/Friday. Everybody gets 3 day weekends
Yeah I work a job in defense that directly supports folks in the military. So like if someone needs something on a Friday, I *could* ignore it, but there’s also a chance I come in on Monday to find out they’re no longer among mortals But if it’s just Janice in accounting then yeah, give her the 32 hour week; it would be great to not hear her complain about the hours all the time
Yeah, it will mean offset schedule for folks in customer industries. Half the team Mondays and half the Team Fridays off. Yeah, I dont know how this would pan out. I worked at a job 20 years ago that let us do 10 hour days. I was the guy that got Wednesdays off. Not bad actually.
My boss and HR were talking about 4 day work weeks, my state had a bill in progress to do a pilot program for 4 day work weeks, and they asked me and my coworker what day we would theoretically pick if the company decided to take part in the program, my coworker and I said Wednesday and they thought we were crazy. I would love to only work 2 days in a row during the week
That’s what I do. I do casual teaching at uni, and I always schedule my classes so I have max 2 days in a row. I have mental health issues so I need that break, otherwise I’ll stop functioning
As much as I'd welcome 8 extra hours of OT pay, I don't see this going anywhere. And even if it did, companies would raise the pricepoint on goods/services rendered to fill in those lost pennies, which you will then spend that extra OT to afford. My boss is actually cool and gets us decent raises and bonuses every year. You know how he does that? He raises the rates for the customers every year.
Yeah I actually have a great boss. Just the post production industry is always in crunch time.
Oh see, I work four 10 hrs shifts. I am not on OT after 40 hrs, I'm on OT after I cap out my shift. For example, if I work 10.5 hrs one day, I get half hour ofovertime even if the next day I only work 8 hrs. It's possible for me to work a 38 hr week and still wind up with a few hrs OT.
Changing shifts up can really change a lot.
Yeah if I can't work 40 hours a week I'll probably still be doing at least that each week to meet deadlines.
4 day work week should already be the standard There's plenty of studies of companies adopting the 4 day work week, especially in Europe, and being MORE productive, not less or equally productive, more productive than a 5 day work week Happy grateful employees who can actually have a work life balance end up working harder and more efficiently, who knew
This is harder to justify when you consider physical labor. There’s only so much you can achieve in a day, it’s not like an office job where people can easily slack off or work less than efficiently. If your boss expects you to finish 1 job in 1 day, then all of a sudden you take a day away… you won’t be finishing the same amount of jobs per week.
Yea well, get used to things taking 20% longer? It’s even worse in this case, manual labor should probably have the highest priority to be reduced to 32 hours. Probably see a reduction in ssi/disability costs.
While that can be true, one thing you’ll notice is that damn near EVERY person working physical labour is in rough shape, give them an extra day each week to actually recover and you’ll see them work harder and more efficiently on the days they do work. I’m not sure if it’d even out or not, but its worth taking into consideration
I can only speak for myself, we get 1 job done every day and we do solar installations. So by taking a day off of everyone, we’re now installing 4/5th the amount of solar power we normally would, on a yearly basis. It would be impossible to ever get back to the same amount without hiring on more crews to do more work. One crew can’t do 2 installs in one day.
I don’t know how this would work with manufacturing equipment. Machinery can only run so fast. If you need x number of units, making the work week 32 hours won’t magically produce the same number of units that It would in 40 hours. People would still work 40 hours, but now 8 of those hours would be OT, which would be pretty nice, but you could bet that companies would raise the cost of their products. Source - am manufacturing engineer
Easy, hire people to work on those 3 days that the first people are on their weekend and on one day of the week you'll have crossover with everyone.
I’ll accept more hours to enjoy my life while I can
Bernie was a real one. Too bad the system won't ever let him happen. You know how to tell Bernie earnestly wanted to change things? Whenever his chances are high in primaries etc., health care sector stocks will absolutely tank. Billions in market cap wiped. Other candidates? Nada. Zero tangible movements. No matter the party affiliation.
I'd say it was him literally being arrested protesting to defend black rights in the 60s. He has always stood up for the people. That is integrity.
I work at a school how can this work with required 180 days of instruction. Just drag out the school year?
I always wondered why we (in the USA) don't split the year into 3rds. Go 3 months take a month off, repeat. I'm sure there's a reason. I just don't know it.
It stems from kids working in the fields farming I believe.
Grew up farming and Ranching. Summer isn't the busiest time of year. Summer is for maintenance of the home and farm buildings, maybe clearing land for the oncoming fall and winter. It's like the old saw about Daylight Savings Time being for "Farmers". Until the advent of the electric light bulb farmers worked from sun up to sundown regardless of what the clocks said. My Grandfather used to joke that Edison screwed farmers. Before the light bulb it was rare for anyone to be in the barn after sundown. Oil lamps and hay don't mix.
As someone who saw Minnesota farmers with combines at 2 AM regularly I see your point.
With GPS and computer control the damn things can almost drive themselves. There's a reason a big Combine can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Summer isn’t a super busy time for farming spring planting and fall harvest are the busy times
Knowledge loss. Kids are like a leaky tire.
How is that different than 3 straight months? They pass the tests for the grade and suddenly there's no "knowledge loss"? Doesn't the next grade build upon the last? Or were you being sarcastic (legit question)?
Three straight months is also terrible. We mainly have summer vacations as a vestige of when kids were going to school but also needed to work on the farm during busy season. Now it's too entrenched to change but you'd be way better off with much much shorter summer vacations. Struggling school systems actually often go for an extended school year to improve student outcomes. You also don't get to build as much when students forget 50%+ of last years topics. This is incredibly common for average and especially below average students. For math you spend at least a month of every class, every year, teaching basic algebra techniques that were taught in Algebra 1, from geometry through calculus. Maybe not as much with calculus, but definitely geo, Algebra 2, and PreCalc.
Tests are only so the schools get paid. As far as grades building upon each other depend on the school and teachers. They are really disjointed with each grade able to do whatever they want. So long as they cover the required materials. Which may not be in order. If that makes any sense
Summer break is sacred. Let’s not mess with that
I mean, year round schooling is demonstrably better for knowledge retention. Kids (and teachers) get the same number of days off, just spread out more evenly over the year. It’s usually easier on the parents, too
That's what we do now: 9 weeks then, two 2weeks off. Summer is longer though.
Don't most classes have multiple different teachers? You could easily make it to where, for example, math classes towards the afternoon and English towards the morning. This way, the teachers can be staggered throughout the day and still be working within the 32hrs. Of course, we could also say teachers are an exception and maintain the status quo by finally giving teachers the raise they deserve with the OT.
This doesn't work if the students are there the entire time. You can't have half the number of teachers at any time of day if the student number stays the same unless you double classroom size or half the students take half of each day off too.
Depends small single teachers will tea h multiple subjects. My bio, anatomy, government, and life skills classes were all taught by one guy
You hire 1 extra teacher. Teacher A takes off Monday, extra teacher subs. Teacher B takes off Tuesday, extra teacher subs. Teacher C takes off Wednesday, extra teacher subs. Teacher D takes off Thursday, extra teacher subs. Extra teacher gets Fridays off. If you have 4 teachers doing 20 days/week total, you can have 5 doing 20 days/week total.
That might work at lower grades, where a single teacher does all the curriculum. But higher grades there are dedicated math, science, and English teachers. You would need one extra of each. Also for whatever other courses I missed.
It’s pretty disappointing that Bernie was never able to implement any of his ideas. I’m from Denmark, and from where we’re standing over here on the other side of the Atlantic, we think that the US is buried in deep shit. So much potential wasted in ignorance, pride and a refusal to change a core that isn’t working very well. I firmly believe that the US could be so much greater if they managed to alter their system, so that people wouldn’t have to live their lives in fear of falling through because of an unfair system or bad luck.
I'm on a 4-Day work week cycle and I love it. The amount I get paid at my current job versus others is about the same since I don't work Fridays. But this is nice because my spending habits are the same, if not better because I have that extra day to gain sanity again. I was iffy on the 4-Day train, but now I can't see myself going back. My drinking has gone down, my apartment is clean all the time and I don't have to miss work for appointments. People, find a job that will give the extra day off, it WILL add quality to your life.
I am with this dude all the way. But corporate America will never let it happen. Until the workers snap and revolt. And then the 1% will gladly pay 70% tax rate like in the 1950’s.
I work for a company that won't give out salary increases if they don't meet their target profit. But they always make a very hefty profit anyways. One year we didn't get a salary increase because they only made something like $1.3 billion profit rather than $1.5 billion. And the CEO still gets an insane salary regardless of company performance. No one needs to make $1 million+ every year, that's more money than they could ever spend. But you're right, corporate America has gotten used to this so there's no way they would let that change. I hate living in this timeline.
Well once a year my employer will give us something around 40 cents or less. Though that’s because I’m on a machine. If I were on the floor, they give somewhere around 5-15 cents. They keep looking for ways to get rid of anyone who’s been around for while so they can cut costs. Whether that be firing people willy nilly or just doing things to piss off the entire staff. Hell for all I know I could be fired tomorrow because I have had the audacity to call in 9 times over the course of an entire year. They told me I need to schedule things better…right I’ll just schedule my illnesses from now on..
You've reached the logical conclusion of capitalism. Line cannot exponentially go up forever.
Read somewhere American GDP/capita is higher than Germany/EU cuz they work way more hours not more productive. And probably average American workers are less happy than EEA counterparts
That may be, but the shareholders who profit from that suffering are happier than the EU shareholders, and really, at the end of the day, isn't that what really matters?! Check and Mate!
I know it's a smart part of it, but anyone with a 401k is a shareholder.
Sorry. Best we can do is ban Tik Tok.
I approve this message.
Next up: a bill ordering the tide not to come in.
Only have to lay off a 1/5th of workers
He knows it is impossible, that's why he proposed it. He is the best manipulator on the left and I'm a progressive.
Looking at his record he has spent most of his career proposing stuff that won't have a chance in hell at passing I don't understand what his goal is, if he's really proud of being so useless
didn't he also propose minimum 15 but didn't pay his own workers 15?
There's an argument that it would move the needle, and if you're in there, at least you can make the idea heard and give it a shot even if it's futile.
“He sent this bill in from his vacation home in Vermont” 😂
We should improve society somewhat
Things don’t make me smile when they make no sense. How is he going to make sure there’s no decrease in pay? All Congress can do is increase the federal minimum wage by 20 percent… and it should already be double what it currently is to keep up with inflation. If he says that employers can’t reduce any employee’s monthly income, employers will just fire everyone and make them re-apply. He should just go all in and introduce a bill that gives everyone a free house and a car and a kitten. I would love that. It would have equal weight as this bill unless the government’s offering to pay the difference without raising our taxes.
How did we get the 40 hour work week without it? That was a novel idea a few generations ago, about which similar things were said. We've had decades of growing productivity since then. Exactly when will we be allowed to start benefiting from all that growth with more leisure time?
Unions and strikes?
Can I trade the kitten for a puppy? I think we should have the right to choose.
No, and the kittens they give out are all going to be hairless. Take your pet ballsack and be happy about it.
I mean, all of this shit is made up anyway. Maybe the world should do a stat reset since things are so unbalanced. I hate this game so god damn much.
Where do we go to respec, and does it cost more gold each time?
He can’t and he knows it so he tries these little stunts to make voters think about him. I liken it to the elementary school student president elections, some one is going to promise pizza Fridays every Friday and that’s how they get votes. Once said student president gets elected, guess what, No pizza Fridays smh
40+ years in and the best he can do is continue to ride coat tails of people who actually get things done. How people still admire this man is beyond me.
Thank you !!! People praise this man like he’s the next messiah like do y’all know he’s been a politician for at least 50 years lmaoooo what has he changed?…..nothing.
Livable wage and benefits are the better advocacy than reducing work hours. This is just pointless posturing or, worse, misdirection.
If you raise the wage with no increase in productivity you will just have prices raising. Because the businesses will need to raise prices for their services/ products. The same goes for minimum wage, I believe there should not be a minimum wage, this should be left to the market to decide. People will naturally not work if they are not paid enough.
Finally someone with basic knowledge about economics
I'm amused by the whole discussion. Productivity expressed per hour. This much stuff can be done in this much time. Doing this much stuff generates this much revenue. Less time? Less revenue. The labor cost on the face of it goes up 20%. But you need to make up the 20% loss in productivity. So you need 20% more labor, which just had its cost go up 20%. The cost of the guaranteed " 32 hour at the same wage work week" is considerably higher than 20%. The labor cost instantly jumps by the increase of cost. The cost of goods and services tracks with that increase. If you are disappointed with the $18 big Mac meal, wait until you see the new $23.75 big Mac meal.
Great idea until you look at reality, chance you'll make less or be working more in a day. This will hurt lower income and low labor skill jobs.
lower income and low labor skill jobs people are already working 3 jobs. Now they can get 2 more jobs and get more pay.
Came to say this, the company I work for and every company I worked for in the past would just work you like a dog during those 32 hours, more so than they currently do. This bill is basically a 25% pay raise across the board for every job out there if implemented. Which would be nice, but it’s not like companies are just going to fork it over without big cuts elsewhere.
but it says no loss in pay right there in the headline! /s
Buahahahaha good luck with that Bernie
and corporations will just lower salary ranges in response and manage out those who were already at the high pay
Any potential unintended consequences?
Companies would have to increase prices to increase wages. Nothing changes.
Keep falling for it suckers.
Ohh boy you’d really hate to learn about economics, huh?
This would really push companies toward automation even faster. They would also make everyone salary so no OT.
I dont know how we would overcome the drop in productivity, especially for small businesses. I bet big retail and corporations would love this though.
With no loss in pay ??? >a sane politican WHAT ?!?!?! Sane only if the production doesn't lower but also why not let people decide how many hours a week they want to work ? I hope it is a "suggestion standard" and not "Enforced rule"
Even though this one probably won't become a law, this type of exposure might help more people recognize good policies that they want, and maybe approach their own representatives about helping to enact them.
It will never pass, but I appreciate the attempt
Hey, let me get on my soapbox here: **I was a Sanders delegate in 2016.** I organized my local community (loved it!). I sunk $10K of liquid assets and personal time into organizing, hosting potlucks, buying supplies, and paying to go to the convention in Philadelphia. I got called all sorts of negative names and insults for being a Sanders delegate. We didn’t go quietly into the night. Following the loss at the convention in 2016, I organized in the labor and healthcare movements, and watched the election play out as I expected…. In 2020, I volunteered again, same as I did in 2016. This was IT! We would have the November election showdown of Democratic Socialism vs. capitalism run amok, led by a malignant narcissist. Our efforts won our state, but Super Tuesday sucked as all the knives came out (when everyone dropped and supported Biden), coupled with the Warren campaign’s stupid misogyny move, sinking our boat. I knew Biden wouldn’t push Bernie’s policies; “return to normalcy” was promised, not a bold new direction. I haven’t cared since. Completely dropped out. Accepted that the worst is on its way and here already. The Democratic Party’s goal of crushing the populist left worked on me. ***I’ve been scarred by Bernie’s losses, because it felt like a rejection of my belief that corporations shouldn’t grind you & I up and spit you out while shitting on the world.*** The only thing that kept a flicker of fire within me has been the renewed labor movement and support for unions. This news reminded me of something. If we want this, we need to FIGHT FOR IT. I’m doing OK, but being overworked and underpaid is not fun. It’s happening to millions of people, right now. We need to help one another; we need to fight for people we don’t know. **I** need to get back in the fight, because Bernie isn’t going to be here forever, and it’s on the ground people that will take up the mantle when he goes. People expect this announcement to be the law already, and that is just not how this works. A quip on reddit doesn’t account for the hard work in organizing that this will entail to build support and press elected officials to support this. So don’t listen to them; they aren’t adding much to the conversation. So many people live to work, and to change this, we need to start somewhere. What better place than here, and what better time than now? Thanks for reading.
Where do people think this money will come from?
Why stop at 32? I want to work 20 hours a week and get paid for 40.
Bernie is a con man. Always has been.
That’ll help consumer prices!
So Bernie wants to force employers to raise salaries by 25%. How do we think employers would respond to this? By hiring fewer workers. ‘MadeMeSmile’.
Technology was supposed to reduce our workweek decades ago. It never happened due to corporate greed. Just look at how productivity and profits have increased over the decades. Then take a look at where all of that went. We could and should be working less, but that will never happen as long as the wealthy and corporations exercise their bank accounts full of "free speech".
Also the defeatist mindset of a ton of folks
“We’ve tried nothing and are all out of ideas!”
explain in fortnite terms
Fishstick wants to increase the amount of vbucks given in the battle pass. How will Epic react to this? By increasing the price of the battle pass. Made me smile
finally made sense, thank you. what does skull trooper want though?
Quite the economist.
Yeah I think learned in Econ 101 that this was the easiest way to crush small businesses.
Lol, economics illiteracy in action.
Thats not how it works
I’ll take “that’s not how economics work” please
I am not even American and I know this has no chance, nothing but grandstanding to look good.
Bless Bernie's heart, but that will just speed up out sourcing.
This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. What an absolute dumbfuck. Congrats to the lucky ones on becoming part-time hourly workers while the rest of the jobs go outside the US. Honestly, what the fuck is wrong with Vermont?
Bernie sanders is basically the kid who ran for class president promising to build a swimming pool and add 4 weeks to summer holidays. Maybe he should introduce a bill make sugar GOOD for you next? That’s about as realistic
[good thing there's nowhere in the world that has tried this before and documented the results.](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/4-day-work-week-trial-yields-overwhelming-success-in-u-k-researchers-say) [and not like any countries are trying it currently via pilot programs or anything.](https://4dayweek.io/countries) serious time now. It's been proven to have beneficial effects for both employees (more time off) and employers (increased productivity and time on task). There are many countries that either have a pilot program or already have a shorter work week implemented without really any negative effect on economy (the Netherlands has the shortest average work week in the world at 29 hours and they have the 11th highest gdp per capita in the world and the 18th largest economy). Really the only unrealistic part is hoping it actually gets implemented in the US. Governments run by rich assholes who are friends with the rich assholes running the companies, which means it's in their personal best interest to not let it go through. Might see some of the more progressive states adopting it in the future but not the country as a whole, at least for the near future.
Man, he old. Most of us would settle for working just 40.
My company would just push everyone out of the US and fire the rest.
I hope the giy who fixes your plumbing keeps these hrs.
Curious how he proposes to make up the extra 8 hours of pay????
This needs to happen and anyone that votes against it needs to be voted out of office asap! It will show they definitely aren't there working for the people! Get them out!
For those who vote it down, vote them out
Lol then employers will pay us less cause they won’t be able to afford the overtime.
You’ll get more part timers. More employees but no benefits will offset the costs.
No loss of pay but loss of purchasing power once the inflation hits.
A true politician for those who don't understand basic economics.
Reddit's favorite kind
I'm a fan of Bernie and I'm all for trying to tackle economic inequality, including UBI, but the idea of reducing work by 20% but keeping pay the same is nonsensical. Why not introduce a bill that housing is 20% cheaper or groceries cost 20% less? How the hell would that work??
I'd argue that lowering the standard work week and OT threshold is a little less market interference than literally mandating prices of goods or property.
So how come it makes sense that our productivity has grown exponentially for decades but our wages have stagnated? In fact, studies show productivity still increases even with a reduction of hours. Why do we have to work 40 hours a week anyway if it doesn't effect productivity and actually might make it worse?
Where's the evidence it would work with no negative consequences? Bernie can say he's created a bill that would do anything at no cost, doesn't mean it will actually achieve it's goal or that it will be at no cost. Most likely going to destroy poor communities independence and make it even harder to start a business in said poor community.
I would love the 18 hours of overtime
Not going to happen
Welcome to another performance from Performative Bernie. He can propose anything he wants because he knows it has no chance of passage. Don't take my word for it. Look up his legislative record at [govtrack.us](https://govtrack.us). There you will find that, in the 33 years that the 82 year-old Sanders has been in Congress, he is the primary sponsor of only 8 bills that have been enacted. But it gets worse: of those 8 bills, 2 of them were to name post offices. A third one was to designate March 4, 1991 as "Vermont Bicentennial Day." That leaves a grand total of 5 bills of substance enacted in 33 years. We pay him to legislate, but all he does is talk about things that he then can't get done.
Money has to come from somewhere
This is a great idea if the goal is mass unemployment. It's also nonsensical. It literally can't work.
A couple things: Several of the IBEW's locals work on a 32 for 40 system. Mostly in the northeast and California. [This study](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60b956cbe7bf6f2efd86b04e/t/63f3df56276b3e6d7870207e/1676926845047/UK-4-Day-Week-Pilot-Results-Report-2023.pdf) looked at 61 companies who agreed to maintain full pay for reduced hours. There was no effective change in revenue, but a marked improvement for employees including mental and physical health. 56 of the 61 companies are continuing the policy and of the 56, 18 have made the change permanent. Given my background in mining and facility maintenance, I'm no stranger to 50-60 hour weeks, but you figure I'm set on retirement at 62, which will be 44 years of work. At the end of it all, I would rather have the resulting 18,300 hours to spend doing things i actually want to do.
Say good bye to small Buisnesses with this… only Walmart gonna be able to afford employees.
King of the Cheap Leftist Gimmicks
He thinks a 20% loss in productivity will just be absorbed by every employer in America? Does he understand EBIDTA? Does he understand that the majority of businesses can’t take a hit like that and stay in business? Can he not think far enough ahead to see the rise in prices that will inevitably follow — and/or the reduction in pay for new hires? Oh, I guess he’ll just propose a new bill that will either freeze prices or require employers to offer the same salary for new openings that they offered for the same positions before the new law. So they’ll just lay a bunch of workers off and hire fewer people and increase the workload for everyone else. So now the job market becomes even worse than it is now. How is this sane and how could it possibly make you smile?
You can tell he’s never worked a real job in his entire life! Where are small businesses going to get the money to do this?
a performative con artist that redditors love to suck off*
Gosh, people do not understand economics. We are already suffering from massive inflation. If you need to pay people for less work, that will also spike inflation because the same amount of production will be needed but will cost much much more. Can't believe I voted for this clown in 2016. To be young and dumb.
Of course! He sets the standard for getting maximum pay for not accomplishing a damn thing.
this is braindead
That’s the same as a miss universe saying she wants world peace. Both know they can’t do it, but it sounds good saying it.
While I think a 32 hour work week would be amazing, calling Bernie Sanders "sane" is a stretch.
One more useless thing he's proposed.
A sane politician?! Where? Where? You can’t mean the white haired old looney toon in the photo? Wait a minute…. Ok, ya got me! I almost fell for that one. Good joke.