Grim days for unpaid workers

Three days, maybe four. That’s how long Ethan James, 21, says he can realistically miss work before he’s struggling.

So as the partial government shutdown stretched into its sixth day with no end in sight, James, a minimum-wage contractor sidelined from his job as an office worker at the Interior Department, was worried.

“I live cheque to cheque right now,” he said, and risks missing his rent or phone payment.

Federal workers and contractors forced to stay home or work without pay are experiencing mounting stress. For those without a financial cushion, even a few days of lost wages could have dire consequences.

James said the contracting company he works for gave its employees a choice: take unpaid leave or dip into paid time-off entitlements. But James doesn’t have any paid time off because he started the job just four months ago. His only option is forgoing pay.

“This is my full-time job, this is what I was putting my time into until I can save up to take a few classes,” said James, who plans to study education and become a teacher. “I’m going to have to look for something else to sustain me.”

Mary Morrow, a components engineer on contract for Nasa, is in the same predicament. In addition to caring for a family largely on her own, she’s got a mortgage. “I have three teenage boys . . . there are credit card bills and normal bills and it’s nerve-wracking. It’s scary.”