the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 4, 2019
The contract workers, janitors, security guards, cooks, and those who shoulder other jobs for the Federal Government of the United States of America, won’t receive back pay because the U.S. government, the most powerful and wealthy government in history, will not compensate a single penny for the work lost due to the government shutdown.
It’s not the first time. Back in the 2013 two-week closure, about 1,200 cleaners, security guards and food-service workers in the Washington area were not compensated for the lost work the closure caused.
Today, more than a million federal contract workers live paycheck to paycheck, because the Federal Government pays little more than the minimum wage to these workers: between $450 and $650 each week. Following the shutdown, these workers have lived on the edge of disaster for five weeks, facing eviction, power shut-offs, hunger and even lack of lifesaving medications, according to the Washington Post.
One worker, Audrey Murray-Wright, who worked for the Federal Government for 15 years, explained to the Washington Post that her debt was mounting, $156 for the gas bill, $300 for electricity, $2,000 for the mortgage. She could no longer afford her blood pressure pills and had to ration the groceries to feed her children.
Why are these workers paid so little? Why are they contractors, and not government employees? Why can’t they get their back pay? Because the Federal Government wants to stiff its workers to give more to the rich, their companies and their stinking profits?
What a Great Government!