Sanders gets heated in exchange with Fox Business reporter over proposed 32-hour workweek

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was furious when a Fox Business reporter asked him about a bill that would create a 32-hour work week.

“Can we talk about the 32-hour work week?” FOX Business reporter Hilary Vaughn asked Sanders, who then asked which media outlet he worked for.

Additionally, Vaughn said Democrats appear to want to tax corporations more. Mr. Sanders interrupted her by saying: Is this how we do it? ” The two continued to talk, with Mr. Sanders saying, “I’m sorry,” and Mr. Vaughn informing him that he was unable to ask the question.

The senator then went on camera to make his case for a four-day work week without reducing employees’ pay.

“We held a public hearing on the 32-hour work week because over the past 50 years, despite significant increases in worker productivity, nearly all wealth has flowed to the top 1%, leaving the bottom Because we’ve seen that 60% account for most of the wealth.”People [are] We live paycheck to paycheck,” Sanders said. Highlighted by Mediaite.

“Many of our people are exhausted,” he continued. “We work the longest hours in the developed world. I think it’s time to shorten the work week.”

Ms. Vaughn tried to ask the same question again, but Mr. Sanders cut her off again, waving his hand in front of her face. Mr. Bourne asked the senator how companies would survive with a shorter work week, while Mr. Sanders said that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos pays a lower tax rate than the average worker. He argued that this showed “there are real problems with our tax system.”

“I think billionaires have to start paying their fair share of taxes,” he said.

Sanders introduced a bill Wednesday that would lower the threshold for overtime pay from 40 hours to 32 hours. Additionally, overtime pay of 1.5 times the regular salary is required for work days exceeding 8 hours, and overtime pay of 2 times the regular salary for work days exceeding 12 hours.

Sanders insisted in a press release Wednesday that his bill is not a “radical idea.” Although workers are more than 400 times more productive today than they were in the 1940s, they still work longer hours and earn lower wages than they did decades ago, he said.

In his release, Sanders pointed to several pilot programs and studies that have shown that 32-hour work weeks improve productivity. Studies have found that employees are happier and therefore more productive at work.