U.S. Senate cafeteria workers and janitors were among those who marched through Washington D.C. on Wednesday morning, stopping on the lawns outside the Capitol to demand a $15 minimum wage.

“They feed the generals in the Pentagon, they also personally serve U.S. senators, some of whom are running to be the next president of the United States,” Good Jobs Nation Campaign Director Joseph Geevarghese told the crowd. “These workers strike because they want our nation to know that their taxpayer dollars are keeping everyday Americans in poverty.”

Good Jobs Nation, an offshoot of the labor federation Change to Win, is campaigning for President Obama to sign executive orders that would force federal agencies to give preference in contract bidding to privately-owned businesses that pay workers a $15 minimum wage.

In February 2014, the president signed an executive order that raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for all workers on federal construction and service contracts. However, labor activists say the increase is not enough.

Among those supporting the campaign was independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who told the demonstrators that a higher was is needed.

“What we’re saying today is pretty simple,” Sanders said. “The taxpayers of this country want to make sure that when government contracts are made those employers who get those contracts pay employees a living wage, that they allow their workers to form a union, that they provide good benefits to their workers.”

Continue reading here.