GREENSBORO, N.C. — For the last 32 days, more than 800,000 federal employees have not been paid.
Sandra Williams is one of them. She works for the IRS in Winston-Salem.
"It’s been rough. I’ve never went without a paycheck for 32 days," she said. "I’ve been through a couple of shutdowns, but never this bad.
Williams says she's at her wits end with the shutdown.
"Missing one paycheck is bad. When you’re missing two, that’s just ridiculous. At least open up the government and let us go back to work, and then y’all fight over this later," she said.
Williams and a group of her friends who also work for the IRS spent their Tuesday night at 1618 Downtown in Greensboro enjoying a free meal. Four of them are furloughed, one woman is working without pay.
"I'd like to thank this restaurant for actually opening up their doors for us," Williams said.
The restaurant is running a promotion to help federal employees.
From Tuesday-Thursday any government employee who's impacted by the shutdown can get dinner on the house. All you have to do is bring a government ID or proof of any kind that you are a federal worker.
While Williams is thankful for the meal, she's hoping she doesn't need a free one in the near future.
"This is a crisis right here with government workers. We've got to fix it."