Federal Contract Workers Tell Obama: $10.10 Isn't Enough

In January, federal contract workers and congressional Democrats hailed President Obama’s decision, following seven strikes at federal buildings, to impose a $10.10 minimum wage floor for many workers under future government contracts. On Thursday, some of those workers will tell the president it isn’t good enough.

“I need to pay the rent, to help my son, to go to school,” says Marie Ferrier, a McDonald’s employee at the Pentagon and an activist with Good Jobs Nation, the federal contract workers’ campaign backed by the labor federation Change to Win and its largest union, the Service Employees International Union. “When I go to the doctor, I pay for that,” she says. “At work, they don’t give you 40 hours. … That’s why it’s not enough.” A White House spokesperson declined to comment.