Low-Wage Federal Workers Call on Obama for Living Wage Executive Order
Friday, September 27, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Federal workers employed by contractors at low wages to operate concessions and clean federal buildings walked off the job Wednesday to urge President Barack Obama to use his executive authority to establish a living wage requirement for contractors that do business with the government. The group marched through downtown, briefly blocking a key Pennsylvania Avenue intersection, before arriving at the White House to deliver petitions with more than 250,000 signatures urging Obama to issue a living wage executive order. “I can’t live on $8.25 an hour,” said Courtney Shackleford, who works at the Ben & Jerry’s at Union Station. “It’s too hard to find a place so I still live at home and my father pays my student loans. It’s just not enough to live on.” Here’s a look at Wednesday’s action via Twitter. Read more about the workers and the extensive use of low-wage contract employees by the federal government here and here. - Mike Hall, AFL-CIO NOW blog, with additional
reporting/photo by
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