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While lauding the "Climate Action Plan" to address global warming, Progressive Caucus Cochairs Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva ask in a letter to be sent to Obama "that the CAP explicitly address the unique environmental justice concerns of low-income, minority, indigenous, and Native American communities across the country."

The executive order, which had been pushed by progressive Democratic lawmakers, applies to all contractors performing services for the federal government and would affect more than 2 million employees, according to an administration official.

"We feel great about it. To me, it's evidence that activism works. If you petition your government peacefully for the right thing, something that helps people," it will happen, Ellison said. "It's not always on your timeline.... This is not a complete victory, but we also understood that half of something is better than all of nothing."

Since Good Jobs Nation's launch last May, organizers say the campaign has secured a (reportedly inconclusive) meeting with the head of the General Services Administration, spurred union recognition for about 220 museum workers, sparked a Department of Labor investigation into alleged wage theft, and largely succeeded at using community protest to reverse or avert retaliation against strikers. But the campaign so far hasn't received any direct public response from the president. That silence has drawn increasingly public pushback from the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who are among 50 House members to write to the White House in support of the workers' demands.