Brown: Shutdown hurts federal contractors ‘living paycheck to paycheck’

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-OH, urged the Trump adminsitration to direct federal agencies to work with contractors struggling during the partial government shutdown.

Brown and other senators wrote a letter to the Office of Management and Budget to provide back pay to compensate low- and middle-income contractor employees for the wages they have lost during the shutdown. Under their existing authority, federal contracting officers should use provisions that allow them to modify the terms of the contract to work with contractors to provide back pay for employees who lost wages as a result of the government shutdown.

“Contract workers and their families should not suffer the consequences of a shutdown that they did not cause. Low-wage service contract workers perform jobs that are absolutely vital to the government, such as food service, security, and custodial work. Many of these workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, and cannot afford to pay their rent and other bills if the shutdown continues,” the letter stated.

Brown plans to introduce legislation to secure back pay for government contract employees who have gone without pay during the government shutdown. He met with government contract workers who are hurt by the ongoing government shutdown.

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