Senate cafeteria workers reportedly face layoffs if Congressional stalemate continues

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

published 10 August 2020

Up to 80 people who are part of the Senate cafeteria staff in the capitol could face layoffs by October if Congress can't emerge from its coronavirus relief deadlock, CNN reports.

The company that employs the workers, Restaurant Associates, did not confirm the number, but did not deny issuing warnings of potential layoffs, which are the result of having to close some of its restaurants because of the pandemic.

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Lawmakers said they were committed to protecting the workers' jobs, although Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) blamed Restaurant Associates, which he said "has been a problem to deal with," rather than his colleagues for the layoffs threat. As Murphy sees it, the company is simply trying "get more money out of the Architect of the Capitol," which he said could mean it's "time to find a vendor that's not going to use the threats of layoffs as a cajole to try to get more money." Read more at CNN.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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