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January 17, 2019

Federal Employees and Contractors Demand End to Government Shutdown
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Meanwhile, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history-now in its
27th day-continues to punish more than 800,000 federal employees who've
gone without a paycheck since December 22. Workers rallied in airports
in Sacramento, California, and Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday, building
on similar protests warning that the shutdown is threatening aviation
security. There are reports of skyrocketing absences among federal
employees forced to work without pay. On Capitol Hill, federal
contractors held a protest outside the offices of Senate Majority Leader
Mitch Mc Connell and other Republicans, saying the shutdown threatens to
deprive some 4 million contract workers of hundreds of millions of
dollars in expected payments. On Wednesday, President Trump signed
legislation that will grant back pay to federal workers once the
shutdown is resolved, but there's no indication that will come anytime
soon, and will not apply to federal contractors.


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