Free sandwiches for unpaid federal workers during shutdown

WASHINGTON — As the longest government shutdown in US history enters a fourth week with no resolution in sight, Jared Hautamaki considers himself relatively fortunate.

The Home Depot where he already worked several shifts a week agreed to employ him full-time while he and hundreds of thousands of federal employees are locked out of their day-jobs.

At $14 an hour, his retail pay cheque will hardly match what he earns as a legal adviser with the Environmental Protection Agency.

But with four children under eight years old, Hautamaki says it’s a necessary accommodation.

But still he worries the temporary income won’t be enough to cover the costs of day care, a mortgage and the rest of his family’s monthly expenses if the shutdown lasts several more weeks as US President Donald Trump has threatened.

“Imagine. I’m 42 years old and my retired mother is calling to ask if I need a loan,” Hautamaki said, in a report in The Guardian.

The Washington metropolitan area is home to the largest share of federal workers in the country — and on Friday many of them missed a paycheck for the first time since parts of the federal government ceased functioning on Dec. 22.

Frustrated employees posted photos on Twitter of their pay stub showing a net pay of $0.

The nation’s capital is now often eerily quiet during the weekday afternoon. Lunchtime hotspots that typically draw long queues have none.

And few tourists wander the National Mall, where the Smithsonian museums have closed for the duration of the shutdown.

Meanwhile, the city of Washington has hired extra workers to clean up garbage from hundreds of trash bins managed by the federal government.

The DC council had to pass the “Love Act” allowing couples to obtain marriage licenses because the bureau that handles them is funded by the federal government. As the impact of the shutdown ripples across the region, some DC businesses are offering discounts or help to ease the financial burden — and tedium — of a prolonged period without work.

Jose Andres, the owner of several popular restaurants in downtown DC and a vocal Trump critic, will give free sandwiches to “all my beautiful hardworking people of the Federal [government].”