Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, which would increase taxes on large companies that pay CEOs over 50 times more than the median pay of its workers. The bill also strengthens government oversight of corporate tax avoidance. On Wednesday, Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, held a hearing on the inequality crisis. Sanders called on Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s two richest men, to appear before the committee, but Bezos declined. Amazon worker Jennifer Bates, who is helping organize what could become the company’s first union in Bessemer, Alabama, was at the hearing and testified.

Jennifer Bates: “We have to keep up with the pace. My workday feels like a nine-hour intense workout every day, and they track our every move. If your computer isn’t scanning, you get charged with being time off task. From the onset, I learned that if I worked too slow or had too much time off task, I could be disciplined or even fired.”

Click here to see our interview with Jennifer Bates about the unionizing effort in Bessemer, Alabama.