Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday introduced a bill to establish a standard four-day workweek in the United States without any reduction in pay. The bill, over a four-year period, would lowe…
Does anybody have a breakdown on how this bill works? I love the idea but I don’t understand how it can guarantee no loss in pay for the long term. Companies could just stagnate the higher wages until inflation dilutes the buying power, right?
I also rather selfishly am curious about how this might affect a work schedule like mine. I do rotating shift work, 12 hour shifts. I stagger between 36 and 48 hour weeks. I kinda wonder if my company or entire industry might transition to either more crews locked at 3 12s per week or maybe move to 8 hour shifts and have 3 shifts per 24 hour period. Or maybe my schedule stays the same but the OT kicks in after 32 hours instead of after 40?
Major win for the working class, but I’m cautiously optimistic. If this passes, I’m concerned what bullshit loopholes or exemptions might be included in the final draft.
Fair. I just mean that I don’t understand how the “with no loss in pay” part can truly be enforced. For salary workers, that seems pretty self explanatory but there will just be no merit increases or cost of living increases for a few years and the budget will balance itself. For hourly workers (like myself) does that mean cutting hours but raising pay? Does it mean keeping the same hours but just lowering the OT threshold? If this goes into effect and then a company claims that they’re struggling, can they cut hours without violating this? For example, today there are people who work 40 hours per week at McDonald’s on an hourly wage; after this bill passes, is it the expectation that those people will then work 32 hours and get the same paycheck, receiving a 25% raise? Or will they start getting OT at 32 hours and keep working 40? And if it’s that second option, when will the manager cut their hours to 32 and what will happen to the manager/business legally as a result? And to that point, what happened to people who are being scheduled 35 hours per week for example? Overnight they go from part time to full time plus OT, or their hours are cut and they get a raise?
In a capitalist economy, companies’ top priority is maximizing profit. There are only two viable ways to do this: overcharge customers and/or underpay labor. This bill has eyes on reducing underpaid labor. Companies are going to be shitheads to find ways to continue underpaying labor. I’m just curious what this bill is gonna do to our asshole boss in terms of loopholes and in terms of consequences for violating this. I’m honestly a little worried that there’s gonna be some bullshit tacked onto this that drives a wedge between blue collar and white collar workers, so typical Monday-Friday office workers get help but eSsEnTiAL workers get left behind yet again, and then people are tricked into fighting over crumbs on the floor instead of noticing the bountiful meal up on the table. I want this bill to work for every kind of worker and I’m trying to figure out how it can accomplish that because I’m not smart enough to know how to write a bill that helps everybody.
How about eight 3 hour shifts per day and you work 3 consecutive? Or twenty four 1 hour shifts and you work ten. I don’t know if you’re medical, but shift changes are one of the most dangerous times, so maybe staggered shift changes is better for everyone anyway.
I’m a power plant operator. 12 hour shifts is pretty standard, but standards can change. We typically have 3 operators on site 24/7, but some extra support on weekday day shift or when shit goes sideways. If we change hours to suit a bill like this, we will need more than the 4 crews of 3 that we currently have. It seems like the options are either to pay us OT for more of our hours and keep the same schedule, move to 36 hours per week every week and hire an extra crew, or move to 8 hour shifts and hire maybe 2 extra crews? I certainly wouldn’t mind more time at home with my family, especially without a reduction in pay.
Does anybody have a breakdown on how this bill works? I love the idea but I don’t understand how it can guarantee no loss in pay for the long term. Companies could just stagnate the higher wages until inflation dilutes the buying power, right?
I also rather selfishly am curious about how this might affect a work schedule like mine. I do rotating shift work, 12 hour shifts. I stagger between 36 and 48 hour weeks. I kinda wonder if my company or entire industry might transition to either more crews locked at 3 12s per week or maybe move to 8 hour shifts and have 3 shifts per 24 hour period. Or maybe my schedule stays the same but the OT kicks in after 32 hours instead of after 40?
Major win for the working class, but I’m cautiously optimistic. If this passes, I’m concerned what bullshit loopholes or exemptions might be included in the final draft.
As opposed to what they already do?
You make a persuasive argument
Fair. I just mean that I don’t understand how the “with no loss in pay” part can truly be enforced. For salary workers, that seems pretty self explanatory but there will just be no merit increases or cost of living increases for a few years and the budget will balance itself. For hourly workers (like myself) does that mean cutting hours but raising pay? Does it mean keeping the same hours but just lowering the OT threshold? If this goes into effect and then a company claims that they’re struggling, can they cut hours without violating this? For example, today there are people who work 40 hours per week at McDonald’s on an hourly wage; after this bill passes, is it the expectation that those people will then work 32 hours and get the same paycheck, receiving a 25% raise? Or will they start getting OT at 32 hours and keep working 40? And if it’s that second option, when will the manager cut their hours to 32 and what will happen to the manager/business legally as a result? And to that point, what happened to people who are being scheduled 35 hours per week for example? Overnight they go from part time to full time plus OT, or their hours are cut and they get a raise?
In a capitalist economy, companies’ top priority is maximizing profit. There are only two viable ways to do this: overcharge customers and/or underpay labor. This bill has eyes on reducing underpaid labor. Companies are going to be shitheads to find ways to continue underpaying labor. I’m just curious what this bill is gonna do to our asshole boss in terms of loopholes and in terms of consequences for violating this. I’m honestly a little worried that there’s gonna be some bullshit tacked onto this that drives a wedge between blue collar and white collar workers, so typical Monday-Friday office workers get help but eSsEnTiAL workers get left behind yet again, and then people are tricked into fighting over crumbs on the floor instead of noticing the bountiful meal up on the table. I want this bill to work for every kind of worker and I’m trying to figure out how it can accomplish that because I’m not smart enough to know how to write a bill that helps everybody.
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How about eight 3 hour shifts per day and you work 3 consecutive? Or twenty four 1 hour shifts and you work ten. I don’t know if you’re medical, but shift changes are one of the most dangerous times, so maybe staggered shift changes is better for everyone anyway.
I’m a power plant operator. 12 hour shifts is pretty standard, but standards can change. We typically have 3 operators on site 24/7, but some extra support on weekday day shift or when shit goes sideways. If we change hours to suit a bill like this, we will need more than the 4 crews of 3 that we currently have. It seems like the options are either to pay us OT for more of our hours and keep the same schedule, move to 36 hours per week every week and hire an extra crew, or move to 8 hour shifts and hire maybe 2 extra crews? I certainly wouldn’t mind more time at home with my family, especially without a reduction in pay.