US Senate Restaurants Poised for Privatized Ownership (no link)

[Omaha Steve]

By Emily Yehle
Roll Call
June 4, 2008

The Senate is close to finally having privately run restaurants, ending decades of in-house cafeterias whose large deficits have cost the chamber millions of dollars. .. Feinstein’s bill guarantees the same basic pay and benefits and offers a $25,000 buyout for those employees who retire. About half are expected to take it. But the bill almost met its demise when several Senators objected to it in early May because they thought the protections weren’t strong enough. Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy (Mass.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Bob Menendez (N.J.) wrote Feinstein a letter asking that more protections be put in the bill, including assurances that the employees would be able to unionize.

[AlinPA]

1. I heard that the Senate has the same restaurant for both parties; but that Gingrich-Delay

had the House members eating in separate dining areas.