“President Obama plans to sign an executive order requiring that janitors, construction workers and others working for federal contractors be paid at least $10.10 an hour, using his own power to enact a more limited version of a policy that he has yet to push through Congress,” reports Peter Baker of the New York Times. “White House officials offered no estimate of how many workers would actually be affected either immediately or as contracts are signed and renegotiated over time.”
The White House may be reluctant to give an estimate because the number of people who will benefit is quite small. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a typical janitor or construction worker–the kind of employees that the Times suggests might benefit from the order–already earn more than $10.10 per hour.
