Bernie is an example of what a progressive politician actually looks like.
American politicians (Republicans AND Democrats) have been moving steadily to the right for the last 40 years. So now, Democrats are where the Republicans were in the 1980s, boring corporatists and friends of banks, pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
And the Republicans have moved all the way into an insane asylum. They long for the âgood old daysâ of company towns, run by 19th century robber barons and worry that the six corporations that control all our news are the âliberal news media.â
This sounds awesome. Hereâs what I wanna know though:
What stops your boss from then saying âYou better stop at 31.95 hours or youâre in trouble.â Because they donât wanna pay overtime? They already do this in a lot of jobs.
So, youâd need additional pay to compensate for less hours, but now you have a two-pronged battle because that just sounds way too lovely.
And Iâm guessing a lot of the âexemptâ office workers that grind themselves into dust the hardest wonât be affected?
I mean hey, Iâd rather it just passes and we see what happens, and keep fixing it as it goes, at least itâs something! But the hardest part is blocking your bosses from weaseling around laws and screwing you anyway.
Correct. But thatâs the issue right now. People look at the equation all wrong and say âI just wish I could get more hours!â instead of fighting for reasonable pay. If hours go down but pay doesnât go up to compensate, a ton of people will actually get hit really hard by this and their lives will get worse instead of better.
Companies can use that tired, stupid line that âWashington says you donât have the eagle-screeching-freedom-right to WORK! How dare they!â and people will buy it.
We donât want that, because itâll turn workers against worker-friendly politics, and that would be a Very Bad Thing, given the level of job-simp-indoctrination weâre already combating! :O
While a small tangent, I agree. I used to work 4x10 each week. Had done that for over a decade. Having a 3 day weekend really helped. When I got my current position I was moved to 5x8. Iâm now endlessly tired, I canât get the weekend projects done, etc. Because youâre just getting out of work, or getting ready to start work again, thereâs no break. So if this ends up being 4x8, that would be great! Keep my hours and get my weekend back. Though I assume corporate USA will find some way to muck it up, like the RTO bullshit.
I totally feel you! I did 12h shifts 4 days a week the absolute difference with 5x8 in crazy! Iâve never been so tired and thatâs including my night time stint doing that as well!
I always vote for him when heâs at the polls, since 2 decades ago. But the oligarchy of this nation will never allow him in position of power to implement these changes.
The reality of America is that our owners have no interest in making life better for the us, the common man, their only interest to bleed us as much as they can for their own selfish agenda. And the American people are collectively still too stupid to understand how it all works.
The only way that we can remain competitive in the global marketplace is to squeeze the workers to the greatest extent that biology will allow. If that means slavery, mind control and death-at-30 then so be it. We must remain competitive
I like this as a concept, and since it has a low likelihood of passing, let a lone being bought up for a vote, i feel comfortable casting this critique:
We need a long-term solution that addresses the power imbalance of employer-employee relations, and all this does is places a temporary and incremental improvement on something that will inevitably be undermined.
I have a similar critique on minimum wage laws - while undeniably better for working class people, they fail to address the broader inequity and end up needing to be updated every couple years (which never happens).
This is one of those moments where I really wish Bernie would put a finer point on it - this is an issue driven by capital. The federal government wouldnât need to spell out labor laws if they could strengthen the working-classâs position against capital more broadly. I would almost rather him propose a bill that strengthens union laws and the NLRB, since those are currently under attack.
Iâd like to think this actually gets some consideration though. Totally agree with your points, but letâs be honest: Once you start calling it like it is and openly blaming Capital, your career in American politics is dust.
Somehow Bernie has managed to have quite a career, in spite of constant opposition by the status quo machine.
If itâs a sliding scale of leisure to labor seeing time as a resource or currency, perhaps even negative hours!
Itâs offset to a ridiculous degree by all those who do the labor for them, and not only alleviate their burden to contribute to society, but elevate them to lives of seeking hedonism and pleasure.
The only real work they seem to do is seeking more powerâŠbut they probably hire people for that, too.
It would have been really nice to have had him as a president for a term. Heâd be doing all the same things heâs doing now, but with more authority. It would have been really interesting to watch mainstream media have a meltdown over everything he put forward.
Iâm not opposed to a 4 day work week, but I am always curious as to what jobs the studies have looked at to conclude that people with 4 work days instead of 5 do the same amount or more work.
Iâm a construction worker. Despite the jokes about standing around, we work hard. I do not think that a 4 day work week would produce better results than a 5 day in my field.
Just for reference Iâve been doing home rehabilitations for lower income families. Thereâs not a ton of heavy lifting, thereâs just a lot to do.
Also, a lot of guys in my line of work also work side jobs on their days off.
You donât think thereâs a chance that working 4 days instead of 5 reduces the physical toll to keep you going longer and working better? Wouldnât working 4 days a week reduce your stress, allow you to recover from all that heavy lifting you mentioned, and improve your physical and mental health on the long-run?
Besides, as I understand it, if your company still wants you to work 5 days, you would still have the option. This bill would require them to pay you overtime for that extra day.
I specifically mentioned not much heavy lifting. The most taxing work Iâve had to do in the past few months was yesterday, lifting a solid core exterior for into place. And the entire second half the day was recovery while I finger painted with wood putty on all the doors and trim.
Regardless of my personal work situation, I canât deny that there would be mental and health benefits for shorter work weeks. I just really donât think that more work would get done in less time, which is what a lot of studies on âofficeâ work seem to say.
Ultimately speaking, itâs not really about that anyways. Itâs about shrinking the ever growing wage gap.
The productivity angle is interesting but just a justification that even the capital has to either agree with or admit itâs about control, not efficiency.
My base comment was more about the 32 hour work week studies which usually coincide with bills of this nature, showing improved productivity and so the lobbyists overlords had nothing to worry about from the change.
As much as I enjoy my work, making end meet isnât ever a simple task.
For your line of work, maybe not. But who cares? They can hire more employees or pay them overtime.
We arenât machines. Whatâs the point of life if all we ever do is work? Are we working to live, or living to work? A 32 hour work week makes it a 4/3 day split instead of a 5/2 day split. Seems a lot more balanced if you ask me.
Yeah, this construction worker guy doesnât get it. There were plenty of people who said a 40-hour work week was not a good idea. People were used to working 6 or 6.5 days per week.
As a construction worker, it shouldnât matter to you how quickly the work gets done. Why do you care? If youâre doing it for yourself, then work as much as you want. This limitation is just on how many hours you work before overtime pay.
Iâm much in favor of this, but it requires the regulated overhead of an employee to be reduced.
Instead of employer insurance, public health service.
Unemployment insurance should be reworked, because that also penalizes per-employee (extremely low wage caps, that start from fresh per person).
Probably various other taxes similar to unemployment insurance.
Generally speaking, there should be no difference to hire an employee for 12 hours versus 32 versus 40 hours. Currently a lot of positions get their hours capped to avoid incurring the overhead of a âfull timeâ employee.
I think something people are missing when thinking less work overall will happen is that this gives opportunities for new job openings for at least part time (if not just more full time position) people to fill in the gaps, or the people already working will just get paid much better. Both are wins imo
Iâve noticed that I get the same amount of work done working 5 days a week as if I plan to only work 3/4 days and know Iâll have some free time to enjoy life. My work is really project based so as long as it gets done no one cares.
My wife has also noticed that Iâm a lot more stressed when I work 5 days a week and need pretty much the whole weekend to recover.
Itâs LONG overdue. Been saying this for years. Reducing the stress, increasing free time (and therefore things like family time, innovation time, etc.) would vastly overhaul our society. Productivity has risen for decades while wages remain stagnant and work-life balance, if anything, has worsened.
Depends on the field but since the pandemic I see folks being"connected" to work in unimaginable ways where they are constantly answering emails or working from home to complete work in their evenings and weekends. Just logging into teams at anytime on a weekend I can see at least a few people online working. This wasnât the case pre pandemic.
Logging in on the weekend reinforces this norm. If people see you are online, it lessens any cognitive dissonance they have with the voice in the back of their head saying âthis is some bullshit, this is my day off.â
There was a time when if someone wanted to reach you after hours they had to call your house and leave a message on your answering machine. now you have âbossesâ that get pissy if you take 5 minutes to respond to a text in the middle of the night.