On Tuesday morning, for the ninth time in less than a year and half, low-wage employees working for federal contractors are going on strike.
Organizers say that more than 200 workers are expected to walk off the job at 9 a.m., including workers at the Ronald Reagan Building, the Pentagon, the Air and Space Museum, and the National Zoo. These workers, who will be joined in a solidarity rally by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and an interfaith group of clergy members, are demanding that President Obama take executive action to improve working conditions at companies that hold contracts with the federal government.
“I’m going on strike [Tuesday] to get a good jobs executive order signed,” said Keyona Dandridge, who works at the sandwich shop Potbelly’s in Union Station. Because Union Station is a federally owned building, her Potbelly’s outlet has a contract with the federal government, giving the Obama administration broad latitude to require a certain level of pay and other benefits.
