Almost 50 contracted workers from the U.S. Senate held a one-day strike on Wednesday, joining more than 1,000 labor activists at a rally demanding President Obama and Congress increase the minimum wage for federal contractors.

Workers from the Senate's cafeteria, janitorial staff and other food service positions walked off their jobs Wednesday morning, calling on Obama to sign a "Model Employer Executive Order," which would give federal contracting preferences to companies that can provide their workers with a $15 an hour wage.

According to a spokesperson for Good Jobs Nation, one of the groups that organized the event, 600 of the workers who marched through Washington D.C. were federally contracted employees.

"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, reports CNN. "These workers strike because they want our nation to know that their taxpayer dollars are keeping everyday Americans in poverty."

During the march, demonstrators also stopped at the U.S. Capitol to demand a $15 minimum wage.

Back in February 2014, the president issued an executive order that raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for all workers on federal construction and service contracts. However, labor activists argue that the wage hike is not enough for workers to sustain.

"What we are saying today is pretty simply, that the taxpayers of this country want to make sure that when government contracts are made, those employers who get those contracts pay workers a living wage," Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, told the crowd at the rally, reports BuzzFeed. "A great nation will not survive, in my view, when so few have so much and so many have so little."

In response, Cheryl Queen, the vice president of Compass Groups USA, released a statement about the rally to CNN, saying:

"(Restaurant Associates) takes pride in paying above market competitive wages, and while we're unable to comment on personal information for any one associate, RA can confirm that its contracts with the United States Senate and the Capitol Visitors Center are in full compliance with the ... wage and benefits provisions within the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA)."