[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13516-13517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SCHEDULES THAT WORK ACT

  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor today to talk 
about something that has been bothering me. Who is this Senate supposed 
to be working for? For years now, this economy has been great for those 
at the top, but for everyone else, it is getting harder and harder to 
make it from paycheck to paycheck, harder and harder to build any real 
security. The world is changing, and Congress can make decisions that 
help working people stay in the game and help level the playing field 
or we can just turn our backs.
  What have the Republicans done over the past 6 months to try to make 
families a little more secure, to give people a fighting chance? What 
have they done? They have turned their backs. In the past 6 months, 
they have burned huge amounts of time as they tried to shut down 
Homeland Security, tried to build a pipeline to help a Canadian oil 
company, tried to turn a human trafficking bill into a referendum on 
abortion, and now tried to defund Planned Parenthood--all this instead 
of working on the kinds of issues that would help level the playing 
field for hard-working people.
  You know, there is a lot we could do. For example, Democrats have 
been fighting to raise the minimum wage. And I strongly agree that no 
one--no one--should work full time and still live in poverty. I think a 
$7.25-an-hour minimum wage is disgraceful. I support the Federal bill 
to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, and I applaud the fight for 
$15 that is springing up across this country.
  When I am asked about whether we should raise the minimum wage, I 
have three answers: Yes. Yes. Yes. But raising the minimum wage is only 
the beginning. Half of low-wage workers have little or no say over when 
they work, and an estimated 20 to 30 percent are in jobs where they can 
be called in to work at the last minute.
  I want us to think about what this means for someone who is busting 
her fanny trying to build some economic security. Imagine trying to 
plan for anything--for childcare, for going back to school, for getting 
a second job--without knowing when you will be working next week. 
Imagine trying to plan a monthly budget when your work hours and 
paycheck can fluctuate 70 percent in a single month. Imagine trying to 
schedule a doctor's visit or parent-teacher conference if you could get 
fired just for asking for a few hours off. This is the real world of 
millions of workers who struggle to make ends meet.
  This is something we can fix. A few weeks ago, I introduced the 
Schedules That Work Act, with 17 Democrats in the Senate and more than 
60 Democrats in the House of Representatives. The bill is just common 
sense and basic fairness: A single mom should know if her hours are 
being canceled before she arranges for daycare and drives halfway 
across town to show up at work, a young man trying to put himself 
through school should be able to request a more predictable schedule 
without getting fired just for asking, and a worker who is told to wait 
around on call for hours with no guarantee of work should get something 
for her time.
  The Schedules That Work Act does two simple things: First, it gives 
all workers the right to request a change in their schedule without 
getting fired just for asking, and, second, it gives workers who face 
the worst scheduling practices--workers in retail, food service, and 
cleaning workers--2 weeks' notice of their work schedules and some 
additional pay if they are required to wait on call but don't get any 
work.
  Now, look, this bill recognizes that there are emergencies, and when 
employers have unexpected needs they can reschedule their workers, but 
we are asking for a little basic fairness so that in ordinary times--
day-by-day, week-by-week--workers will have a stable schedule and a 
chance to build some real economic security.
  Democrats want to get to work on changes in the law that would give 
working people a fighting chance. We want Republicans to let us take up 
these proposals and let us vote on them. Instead, Republicans are 
pushing a different agenda, focusing on defunding women's health care 
and protecting those at the top.
  People say Washington doesn't work, but that is wrong. Washington 
works great--for the right people. When the corporate lobbyists want a 
carve-out or giveaway, when a giant oil company wants the Keystone 
Pipeline or when Citibank wants to blast a hole in Dodd-Frank, 
Republicans fall all over themselves to make it happen. When the 
rightwing wants to cut off access to health care, Republicans are ready 
to go, but when it comes to the things that will help families, they 
turn their backs. This has to stop. We are not here to work for the 
lobbyists. We are not here to make life easier for big oil

[[Page 13517]]

companies or for big banks. We are here to make this country work for 
hard-working Americans. That is our job, and it is time for this 
Republican Senate to start doing that job.
  Let's take up and pass the Schedules That Work Act. Let's give 
working families a fighting chance to build a future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

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