Thirty-three U.S. senators sent an open letter to the CEO of Compass Group asking that Senate cafeteria employees be allowed to vote on unionization.
The letter was sent Friday and accused Compass’ Restaurant Associates business of providing low wages and poor working conditions and retaliating against union organizers and sympathizers.
“The time has come for the Compass Group to ensure Senate cafeteria workers have a model employer that addresses its workers’ legitimate concerns. We request therefore that the Compass Group commit to reaching an agreement with the union seeking to organize these workers," said the letter, which was signed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont, amongst others.
The agreement, the Senators wrote, would require that Compass Group “recognize the union as the worker’s exclusive bargaining representative on the basis of a majority representation of signed authorization cards."
The foodservice vendor would also have to terminate any manager who participates in unlawful conduct or does not abide by U.S. laws prohibiting retaliation against any employee who is interested in unionizing.
Restaurant Associates CEO Dick Cattani sent a letter back to the senators Monday stating the company respects all of its employees and their right to unionize. It also stated that RA and its executives “do not believe there has been any attempt to intimidate workers in the Senate Dining Room.”
“The workers in the Senate Dining Room have every right to organize if they so choose. An organizing effort by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) three years ago was rejected by 68 percent of those voting. If the SEIU believes it has the necessary support to organize in the Senate Dining Room, we believe the best course would be to follow the usual procedure of asking the NLRB to hold an election,” Cattani wrote.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, who also signed the letter, boycotted the Senate’s cafeteria earlier this month with more than two-dozen foodservice staff, as reported by FoodService Director.
Senate workers staged a strike last Wednesday, the evening of the Republican primary debate, to demonstrate their opposition to Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
“Senator Rubio promises to create good jobs for America, but he hasn’t helped the low-wage workers who serve him every day. He likes the fancy dishes we prepare, but he doesn’t care that we can’t afford to feed ourselves,” said James Powell, a chef at the members’ dining room, in a news release.