At 82-years-old, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is one of the oldest members of Congress, yet he’s still younger than the 40-hour workweek. Sanders was born in 1941 — a year after the 40-hour workweek was established by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Now Sanders wants to reduce the standard workweek, but it’s probably a long shot.
As Sanders noted on his Senate.gov page, American workers are more than 400% more productive now than they were when the 40-hour week began, mainly due to technological advances. However, weekly wages for the average U.S. worker are “actually lower” than they were 50 years ago after adjusting for inflation. At the same time, CEOs today earn nearly 400 times more than what their employees earn, per Sanders.
“It’s time that working families — not just CEOs and wealthy shareholders — are able to benefit from increased productivity so that they can enjoy more leisure time, family time, education and cultural opportunities, and less stress,” Sanders stated in a fact sheet accompanying his proposed Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act.
Recent Comments