On Tuesday, Willie Price woke up at 3am and delivered the newspaper. At 6:30am, she got a job in foodservice, made registers and coffee, and made coffee in the cafeteria at the Library of Congress in Capitol Hill.
The government then closed on Wednesday.
Price says she makes about 16 cents per newspaper she offers from her foodservice job, and $25 an hour, she says she hasn’t worked since Tuesday. If the shutdown continues, she will not be able to pay the bill this month.
“I don’t even know what to do,” she says the 65-year-old lives in payroll, says CNBC will make it. “You could lose your home. You could lose your car. You could lose everything.”
Price is one of many hourly contractors who work directly through third-party contractors that are not paid during the closure period. Some federal employees are guaranteed backpay once the shutdown is over, but contractors are not guaranteed.
The shutdown usually lasted about four days. The latest in 2018 was the longest on record, lasting for over a month. On Friday afternoon, the Senate did not pass any of the funding bills that would have ended the three-day government shutdown. The shutdown is expected to be extended until at least Monday, October 6th.
The long-term shutdown could put a huge financial burden on low-wage workers, many of whom have already sent their salaries to their salaries, said Randy Irwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Federations of Federal Workers across the country.
“I think people can play with people’s livelihoods.”
Since October 6th, Audrey Murray, a 64-year-old security guard, says he has not received an hourly salary of $20.22 from his job at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. She doesn’t think she’s separated from her second job at the State Department, but she says that income from that job alone won’t cover bills this month.
“I’m just in Limbo right now,” Murray says. “It’s weird to think people can play with people’s livelihoods. I do all the right things. I’ll go to work.”
Willie Price (L) and Audrey Murray (R) are contract workers who do not receive pay during government shutdowns.
Christina Locopo | CNBC Make It (Photo by Willie Price and Audrey Murray)
Murray is a single mother of two teenage sons and a full-time caregiver for her 12-year-old granddaughter, and says it took two years to repay the money she borrowed from her relatives during the last government shutdown in 2018.
Each month, she pays for a $2,200 mortgage, spending up to $600 on groceries for her family, spending utilities and child care expenses. She already thinks she might have to ask her children to distribute her food.
“How do you plan to feed the kids and pay the bills?” Murray says. “We need to maintain electricity. We need to keep gas.”
Many low-wage workers may not be able to pay their bills
According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is unclear how many workers will be affected in total, but they will be able to take daily unpaid leave of closing.
Low-wage workers are those who are bearing the brunt of government shutdowns, Manny Pastelic, president of 32BJ SEIU, a union representing 2,400 federal contract security guards, office cleaners and foodservice workers, said in a statement Tuesday.
“Members of 32BJ not only do they earn less than direct federal employees, they will not be eligible to receive backpay,” Pasterich said. “The government shutdown will turn their lives upside down, put evictions on many, turn off their utilities and prevent them from being able to support themselves and their families.”
In the Smithsonian, Murray says “everyone” is worried about how the closure will affect their lives. Over the past few days, she has seen many of her colleagues cry at work out of stress, she says.
“It’s so sad to see everyone feel sad,” she says. “People don’t know how to pay the bill. People don’t know how to put food on the table.”
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