WASHINGTON – With President Obama expected to sign an executive order any day now to raise the minimum wage on new federal contracts, advocates for the physically and intellectually disabled are pressing the White House to include the group among those getting raises.
At his State of the Union Address last month, Obama promised to soon issue an executive order that would hike the minimum for workers on new federal contracts to $10.10 per hour from the current federal rate of $7.25.
The executive action by Obama, who is pressing Congress to pass a minimum wage increase that would cover all workers, could potentially affect tens of thousands of low-wage earners who do janitorial, dish-washing and other tasks for the federal government through contractors.
© 2014 USA TODAY. All rights reserved.
