WASHINGTON — No one would confuse the photos for high art. One shows a woman dressed in smart business attire standing in front of the Supreme Court, her face obscured by a cartoon hand flashing the peace sign; the other is just a hand holding a Trader Joe’s employee name tag with the name taped over. But the Hill staffers who posted them to the Humans of the Hill Instagram project hope the photos will prove their worth by helping convince lawmakers to pay their staff better.
“My paycheck runs out before the 10th of every month. I am stressed worrying about how I am going to afford my next meal,” the House staffer pictured in the first photo explains in the accompanying caption. “My immigrant parents can’t afford to have a retirement plan and they put their daughter through college in hopes one day she will be able to take care of them. How am I supposed to take care of them when I can’t even take care of myself?”
“I started working on the Hill with a relatively high salary considering what other folks in other offices were paid. Even with that, I had to live in subpar housing and eventually had to get a second job,” the second caption reads. “This isn’t about demonizing my office — this is about highlighting a common struggle that so many other staffers face.”
