Facing mass layoffs, the Senate's cafeteria workers are asking the lawmakers they serve to come to their aid
The workers say they've endured years of low wages, poor benefits, and job insecurity, and are planning to picket the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
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- Cafeteria workers who serve food and drink to the Senate say they're facing mass layoffs this month.
- The workers say they've endured low wages, poor benefits, and job insecurity for years.
- They're pleading with senators to restore emergency funding that kept them afloat during the pandemic.
Senate cafeteria workers are fighting to save their jobs in the face of mass layoffs and are urging the lawmakers they serve to come to their aid, according to several sources.
The staff are set to picket the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon in the wake of an announcement that many of them would be laid off "as the Capitol starts reopening and tours return," per a notice tweeted on Tuesday by Unite Here, a labor union for hospitality workers.
The notice said the workers "are calling on the Senators that they serve every day to join their fight to protect the jobs that some have held for decades."
Last fall, these workers unionized after what Unite Here described as "years of low wages, poor benefits, and lack of job security."
The union added that the dining workers have been bargaining with their employer — Restaurant Associates — for fair wages, affordable health insurance, a pension, and job security, but have only "reached tentative agreements on most non-economic issues."
Only 18% of these workers have employer-sponsored health insurance, because the company-provided plans are too expensive for their wage level, Unite Here added.
For example, one cafeteria worker told Roll Call that she received a stipend of $4.60 an hour for insurance, but couldn't afford the bronze-level plan offered by her employer that would have cost her $433.82 a month last year.
Senate dining workers have endured a dearth of tips and business amid the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to millions of dollars in federal aid that was issued for Capitol workers in 2020, per Roll Call. However, that money will soon be depleted, the Architect of the Capitol warned in February.
A dire plea to the Senate
Some lawmakers have stepped in to support the dining staff.
On Saturday, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio called for fresh emergency funding to keep the dining workers employed.
"After facing down a violent insurrection on Capitol grounds and continuing to serve through more than two years of a pandemic, layoffs should not be on the table," he wrote in a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The letter was signed by 17 other senators including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
"In fact, the United States Senate expressly called for the opposite: Workers should be rewarded for their service to this institution, the Capitol complex, and to the people who visit us," the letter said.
"Due to COVID-related circumstances, foot traffic in the Senate cafeteria has been a fraction of what it was pre-pandemic and catering operations have ceased," it continued. "We ask that the Senate work on a bipartisan basis to add additional funding in the COVID supplemental to avoid COVID-related layoffs for those who serve the Senate community."
On Monday, workers from the Dirksen Senate Office Building's cafeteria went door-to-door in the building to ask individual senators for help, according to Pablo Manríquez, a correspondent for news and commentary site Latino Rebels.
—Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) April 4, 2022
They told the lawmakers that 81 workers are set to be laid off on April 14 if the Senate doesn't act, Manriquez reported.
At least three of the senators — Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Jon Tester of Montana — have expressed support for the cafeteria staff and said they would look into the matter. Booker was also one of the senators who signed Brown's letter.
Restaurant Associates did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.