Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation calling for a 32-hour workweek. Bernie Sanders said the proposal is “not a radical idea” as countries and companies around the world increasingly adopt shorter workweeks and record the same — or, in many cases, higher — rates of productivity. Sanders said technological advances have benefited corporations and CEOs while leaving out workers, and that AI threatens to further deepen this inequality. On Thursday, a Senate panel held a hearing on the issue. This is UAW President Shawn Fain, who pushed for a 32-hour workweek in his union’s initial contract demands to the Big Three automakers last fall.

Shawn Fain: “But time, just like every precious resource in our society, is not freely given to the working class. Since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve seen productivity in our society skyrocket. With the advance of technology, one worker is now doing what 12 workers used to do. More profit is being squeezed out of every hour, every minute and every second. … Who’s going to act to fix this epidemic of lives dominated by work? Are the employers going to act? Will Congress act? You know, how can working-class peoples take back their lives and take back their time?”