Thousands of government contractors unlikely to get back pay when the shutdown ends

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The 800,000 federal employees the Trump administration is advising to pick up odd jobs for their landlords to pay the rent while they're on furlough because of Trump's shutdown at least have the knowledge that they'll probably get their back pay when it's over. That's not the case for the thousands of contract workers whose jobs are also on ice because of Trump. They have no guarantee that the lost weeks of pay will be made up.

"Starting yesterday, I was expected to go back to work, but, of course, I couldn't," Misty Carrothers, a paralegal on a government contract with the Department of Justice told Huffington Post. "My last paycheck covers the first-of-the-month bills, which are the big ones: rent and car insurance. But then you have credit cards that come in the middle of the month, and my health insurance may or may not be fully covered on my next paycheck."

A lawyer for many government contractors, Susan Moser, a partner at the Cherry Bekaert law firm says that in the past those contractors have been left out when to comes to back pay. "You hear a lot in the paper about the government employees, and I'm sympathetic to their uncertainty, but if history is any indicator, they do get paid, even if they didn't work―but that's usually not the case with government contractors," she said. "They are disproportionately affected. You don't hear a lot about these professionals who help make the government run."

Contractors work in everything from janitorial to food service to technological jobs like programming. If the agencies they contract with aren't funded, are shuttered, so are their jobs. Trump callously implied Thursday that all these workers not getting paid doesn't matter because "most of the people not getting paid are Democrats." If they weren't already, they're sure going to be now.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822156/-Thousands-of-government-contractors-unlikely-to-get-back-pay-when-the-shutdown-ends#comment_72411391

[edhopper]

1. Trump continues his practice

of stiffing contractors.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. yep, Bratty Baby Donnie doesn't pay contractors

[Sherman A1]

2. Years ago when I owned a gaming store

I had an opportunity to do business with the City Government and then the Federal Government. We passed on both as I concluded that one can never be sure of payment and I simply couldn't afford to be a source of credit to either. They would have been pretty good sales, but I wasn't in a place where I could wait for an extended time to receive my money.