Federal Subcontractors Deserve Shutdown Protections
The temporary end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history won’t help federal subcontractors like Pablo Lazaro, a cafeteria worker whom the federal government subcontracts to serve food to millions of visitors at a Smithsonian museum for less than $32,000 a year.
Enter your address and click “Start Writing” to ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act.You may have seen Pablo on NBC explaining how financial strain of the shutdown could cost him his home, but Pablo’s story isn’t unique. There are thousands of furloughed janitors, security guards, and other low-wage service workers whose finances will still be devastated even after the government reopens.
Pablo and his coworkers are ready to return, but unlike other federal employees, subcontractors are ineligible to receive the wages or benefits they lose when the government shuts down.
The Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act would prohibit government shutdowns from robbing subcontractors of wages, as well as employer-paid health insurance contributions and paid time off.
The Senate has introduced this important bill, but subcontractors still need the House to move a similar bill that will fix the rules that hurt low-wage subcontractors during shutdowns. Enter your address and click "Start Writing" to support these workers.
