Senate cafeteria workers and janitors walk off the job

One week after a nationwide day of protest for low-wage workers across the country, workers in U.S. Senate offices and other federally owned buildings are going on a day-long strike in support of increased wages and benefits.

The work stoppage is organized by Good Jobs Nation, a project of the labor federation Change to Win. For the past two years, the campaign has been leading protests against the working conditions at some federally contracted workplaces — privately-owned businesses that have contracts with the federal government and often conduct their work on federal property.

Wednesday morning’s work stoppage will be the first to include janitors and food service workers from the buildings that house U.S. senators’ offices. Workers are expected to rally on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where they will be joined by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including rumored presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Dewana Samuel, 53, a janitor who works in the Russell Senate Office Building, said she has spent a decade working for the same contractor but still makes $11.83 per hour.

“I’ve got quite a few bills,” she said. “It’s just really hard to maintain a home with the pay that I’m getting from them."

Some of those bills are the result of a disability: Samuels is blind in her right eye, the result of a gunshot wound sustained in 1988. Her employer’s health plan is not sufficient to help her cover many of her medical expenses, she said.

“I’m still paying for my prosthesis,” said Samuels.

Good Jobs Nation has already scored some policy victories. Last year, President Barack Obama met one of the campaign’s core demands when he signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a minimum of $10.10 per hour. He followed that order up with another one tightening up labor law compliance requirements at federal contractors.

Now Good Jobs Nation is demanding two more executive orders: One that would require federal agencies to give preference in the contract awarding process to employers who pay their workers at least $15 per hour and provide additional benefits and another that would promote collective bargaining. These two demands effectively echo the “$15 and a union” rallying cry at the heart of the Fight for $15 campaign, which organized last week’s nationwide day of protests. (The Service Employees International Union, which provides significant financial backing to the Fight For $15 protests, is also a founding member of Change to Win.)

Samuel said the $10.10 executive order signed by Obama was “a start” but not enough for her and other contractors working in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia has one of the highest costs of living in the nation, according to multiple studies.

“I just would like for some of the senators to know what’s going on with the contractor workers, with the low pay we’re getting,” said Samuel. “They need to know. They really do."