Durbin, Sanders Lead Call For Living Wage For Senate Employees

Press Release

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Mark Warner (D-VA) today sent a letter to Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) calling for contractors who do business with the United States Senate to pay their employees a living wage and provide fair health care and other benefits. The Senate Rules Committee is responsible for the administration of congressional buildings and services.

"The U.S. Congress should be working to improve the economic security of middle class families across the country. We should start right here in the U.S. Senate," the senators wrote. "We ask that you work with the Sergeant at Arms to require U.S. Senate contractors, including Restaurant Associates, the current food and restaurant service contractor, to provide a living wage, fair health care and other benefits, and that give employees a voice in their workplace."

"It's encouraging to see U.S. Senators step up to address the problem of low wages here at the Capitol. No one who works in these buildings should be homeless or have to rely on public assistance or charity to feed their families," said Charles Gladden, a worker at the Dirksen Senate Cafeteria. "I hope that senators from both parties realize that this problem can be fixed here in the Senate, and they think about how they can help workers in similar situations now and in the future."

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