US govt shutdown Day 4: Woman gets furloughed at 65, expresses concerns as she remains without pay — ‘I could lose...’
The US government shutdown has reportedly left hourly contractors like 65-year-old Price without pay. She expresses fears of losing their homes and struggling to meet monthly expenses.
As the US government shutdown took effect on Wednesday following a funding impasse between President Donald Trump and Democrats, a 65-year old woman, hourly contractor who delivers newspapers and work in food service at a cafeteria in the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill, expressed concerns over possibility of losing her belongings as she has reportedly not worked since Tuesday after being furloughed.
Willie Price, who earns around 16 cents per newspaper she delivers and $25 an hour at her food service job, says she hasn’t worked since Tuesday. If the shutdown drags on, she won’t be able to cover her bills this month, according to CNBC.
“I don’t even know what to do. I could lose the house. I could lose my car. I could lose everything,” Price, 65, said who lives paycheck to paycheck.
Price is among the many hourly contractors either hired directly by the government or through third-party firms who won’t receive pay during the shutdown. Unlike some federal employees who are assured back pay after the shutdown, contractors aren’t guaranteed any compensation, the report noted.
'I’m just in limbo right now'
Audrey Murray, a 64-year-old security officer, said she will stop receiving her $20.22 hourly wage from her position at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery beginning October 6. Although she doesn’t anticipate being furloughed from her second job at the State Department, she said the income from that job by itself won’t be enough to pay her monthly bills.
“I’m just in limbo right now. It’s just funny how people think they can play with people’s livelihoods. I do all the right things. I go to work. How am I going to feed my children and pay my bills? I need to keep my electric on. I have to keep my gas on," CNBC quoted Murray as saying.
Murray, a single mother of two teenage boys and full-time caregiver to her 12-year-old granddaughter, stated it took her two years to repay the money she borrowed from family during the last government shutdown in 2018. She pays a $2,200 mortgage each month and spends up to $600 on groceries for her family, in addition to expenses for utilities and child care. She’s already considering having to ask her children to limit their food consumption, the report mentioned.
Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents 110,000 federal workers across the country, warned that a lengthy shutdown could cause severe financial hardship for low-wage workers, many of whom are already living paycheck to paycheck, a report by CNBC noted.
Meanwhile, Trump freezing the funds for Democratic-led states has raised concerns among some centrist Republicans in the US Congress.
"You're going to create a bad faith environment here that could put us further out. They need to be very judicious," reported Reuters quoting Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who is involved in informal bipartisan talks to end the shutdown.