As part of his Labor Day message to workers in the United States, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday re-upped his call for the establishment of a 20% cut to the workweek with no loss in pay—an idea he said is “not radical” given the enormous productivity gains over recent decades that have resulted in massive profits for corporations but scraps for employees and the working class.
“It’s time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay,” Sanders wrote in a Guardian op-ed as he cited a 480% increase in worker productivity since the 40-hour workweek was first established in 1940.
“It’s time,” he continued, “that working families were able to take advantage of the increased productivity that new technologies provide so that they can enjoy more leisure time, family time, educational and cultural opportunities—and less stress.”
You’ve already sacrificed so much, we can’t possibly ask you to sacrifice anymore. God, we’ve been so selfish talking about barely being able to afford rent or food to eat, when really we should’ve been thinking about how you felt about the whole thing. I’m so sorry we’ve inconvenienced you in any way. You know, go ahead and skip paying me for a bit and take that submarine trip on OceanGate you’ve always wanted to do, everyone has been talking so much about it lately.