Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) is proposing cutting the standard 40-hour workweek down to 32 hours in the hopes of rebalancing worker productivity and stress. In March, Sanders introduced legislation that would require employers to pay employees overtime for any time worked over 32 hours in one week. Employers would also be prohibited from reducing employees’ pay and benefits as a result of the reduction in hours. Sanders argued that with advances in technology, worker productivity has increased, some studies suggest by as much as 400%, since the 40-hour workweek was set by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1940. He…

Capitol Hill staffers are pushing to unionize and now have the support of the majority of House Democrats, who signed a resolution in February supporting the effort. The logistics of running such a union, however, are presenting a hurdle for moving forward. The Congressional Workers Union publicly launched in early 2022 after organizing for more than a year with the aim of helping staffers feel more protected at work. “While not all offices and committees face the same working conditions, we strongly believe that to better serve our constituents will require meaningful changes to improve retention, equity, diversity and inclusion…

The Senate dealt the Obama Administration’s job package another blow on November 3 by refusing to consider the Rebuild America Jobs Act, a$60 billion measure to build and repair infrastructure and create an infrastructure bank to leverage private and public capital for long-term projects. The 51-to-49 vote fell short of the 60 needed to proceed to a debate and vote. All Republican senators, as well as Democrats Ben Nelson (NE) and Joe Lieberman (CT) opposed the bill. The concept of an infrastructure bank has been around for some time. As described in the January 2009 Congressional Digest on “Infrastructure Financing,”…