Feds Go After Concessions Company That Shorted Senate Workers $1 Million
Feds Go After Concessions Company That Shorted Senate Workers $1 Million
Dave Jamieson
Huffington Post
The Labor Department wants to bar a concessions company from receiving new federal contracts, after the company allegedly stiffed low-wage workers inside the U.S. Senate out of $1 million.
In June, the department announced that Restaurant Associates, a subsidiary of the food service conglomerate Compass Group, would repay 674 Senate workers back wages after the company failed to pay employees the prevailing wage under federal law and didn’t compensate employees for all the hours they worked.
Restaurant Associates has since paid back the workers. But the department went a step further on Thursday, filing a complaint requesting that the company be forbidden from receiving new contracts for a period of three years. The request will now go before an administrative law judge. If approved, it will only affect future contracts, not the current one at the Senate building, which runs through 2029, according to the Labor Department filing.
The Labor Department’s investigation came on the heels of a complaint filed by Good Jobs Nation on behalf of the workers. In recent years, the group has spearheaded protests and one-day strikes by low-wage workers at buildings including the Capitol, the Smithsonian and the Pentagon, where people work in fast-food restaurants, catering and janitorial services. Some prominent liberal lawmakers have showed up at rallies to support the workers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).
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