What Sen. Brown does for lunch on Wednesdays

WASHINGTON — Sen. Sherrod Brown has a new lunch appointment every Wednesday, and it doesn’t involve meeting with constituents, waging policy fights, or other typical congressional duties.

Instead, the Ohio Democrat takes his bagged lunch to a cafeteria in the basement of the Senate Dirksen Building, where he meets with some of the Senate’s food service workers and gets an update on their push to win a raise and join a union.

The workers’ campaign started earlier this year and gained steam after CNN reported that a Senate food service worker – Charles Gladden, who washes dishes in one of the congressional eateries – could not afford an apartment and was living on the street.

“I work for the most powerful people in the country and there I am sleeping at a subway stop,” Gladden told CNN in April.

Brown, a scrappy liberal, was quick to join the cause – first meeting in his office with Gladden and other workers and then spearheading a letter to the Senate Rules Committee supporting their request for a “living wage.” The rules panel oversees the Senate’s various private contracts.

Now, Brown has taken his support up a notch by attending the weekly Wednesday “sit-ins,” which are intended to boycott the cafeteria (thus the bagged lunch) and show solidarity with the workers.

Every week, one or two lawmakers and a bevy of congressional staffers who support the workers bring a bagged lunch – plastered with a “Senate Staff Solidarity” sticker – and take over a half-dozen tables in the cafeteria. The workers, who are asking for $15 an hour and trying to organize a union, come out on their breaks to say hello and thank them for their support.

Brown was the first lawmaker to attend, and he has roped others – including the Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada – into coming as well.

“Frankly it’s embarrassing that the United States Senate would have people serving us who make those paltry wages,” Brown told reporters this month.

Gladden has worked in the Senate for 10 years and earns $11 an hour. He said that after the CNN report, supporters held a fundraiser for him and he has now moved into an apartment. But he uses most of his wages to help support his grandchildren.

He said Brown’s involvement has been a big boost.

“We needed his influence and his influence is what prompted other senators to start coming on board,” Gladden said.

Brown said he started attending weekly sit-ins to make sure the workers were not being intimidated by their managers. “We want these workers to understand they have some allies,” he said.

The Senate’s food service contract is held by Restaurant Associates, a New York company. This week, the firm’s CEO Dick Cattani responded to a letter from Brown and other Senate Democrats complaining about allegations of retaliation against the workers who are trying to unionize.

“Wherever we operate, we comply with labor laws and would not tolerate intimidation or coercive tactics by our managers,” Cattani said. “We do not believe there has been any attempt to intimidate workers in the Senate Dining Room.”

The food service contract expires next month, and the chairman of the Rules Committee, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has said he will consider the workers’ concerns as they renegotiate the contract.

In the meantime, Brown plans to keep his Wednesday appointment.

“We will continue this until these workers are treated right,” Brown said before digging into his leftover Chinese food.