When U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders met with some of Iowa’s Fight for $15 workers Saturday afternoon, his reaction to what was happening to them was simple.

“Beyond disgraceful,” he said after hearing one worker describe making $9.50 an hour after 11 years with McDonald's.

Sanders, of Vermont, met with three fast-food workers after speaking at the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement event Saturday. The first one to speak, Cedar Rapids McDonald’s employee Kelly Osborn, appeared in a digital ad with Sanders after he joined her on a strike line in June. Sanders said he remembered the hot day.

“We were bought by new owners, all the McDonald’s in Cedar Rapids, and they gave us all a raise to $10 an hour, up from $8.25,” Osborn said. “Then they cut all of our hours.”

“Jesus Christ,” Sanders muttered in response.

While Sanders joined the workers in June, he’s not the only presidential candidate to join the fray. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro joined Fight for $15 rallies Saturday morning.

Osborn, 44, is a single mother and raising her grandson, who is on the autism spectrum, she said in the June ad for Sanders. She was working 30 or more hours a week then. Now it’s less than 20, she said.

“There’s no end to the greed,” Sanders said. “Every time you think you hear a new low, they go lower.”

She doesn’t think her hours were cut in retribution for her activism; pretty much every non-manager at the franchise was in the same situation, she said.

Osborn applied for and received government assistance to make up the difference. It gives her more breathing room — “but not much,” she added with an exhausted laugh — against what she described as the verge of homelessness for her and her grandson.

Outside of his exasperation, Sanders told the group progress was being made. Seven states, Amazon and Disney raised their starting wages to $15 an hour “because people came together and demanded” better wages.

“You are incredibly brave,” he said. The workers were on strike Saturday, and have added demands for union recognition to their cause. As their conversation wrapped up, he added, “thank you for your courage. I know this is not easy.”

Osborn said she was heartened by the moment with Sanders.

“He basically just told the truth,” Osborn said after. “We know it’s a struggle, and we know it’s going to take us some time, but we’re going to get there. We’re going to fight and we’re going to win.”

Nick Coltrain is a politics and data reporter for the Register. Reach him at ncoltrain@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8361. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.