The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the largest defense and aerospace labor union in North America, welcomes the Department of Labor’s publication of its proposed rule to implement Executive Order 14055, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” which will significantly improve job security for service contract workers across the country.
After the IAM’s advocacy, President Biden signed Executive Order 14055 on November 18, 2021. It requires federal contractors and subcontractors on a covered successor contract to offer jobs to qualified employees employed under the predecessor contract.
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The IAM led efforts in urging the Biden administration to protect Service Contract Act (SCA) workers’ jobs by reinstating critical job security protections that had been taken away under the Trump administration.
“This is a win for workers and employers who work under the Service Contract Act,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “President Biden’s reinstatement of President Obama’s Executive Order turned back the disastrous policy of President Trump and created clear guidance for employers. President Biden is a champion for working families and continues to put them at the top of his agenda. Thousands of IAM members and other service contract workers can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing their jobs won’t be displaced when government service contracts change hands from one employer to another. Our nation can take great pride in the efficient government procurement and fairness to these workers and their families under Executive Order 14055.”
In 2021, IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to restore Service Contract Worker’s job protections.
Service Contract workers are private-sector employees who work under federal contracts, primarily at military bases and other federal installations. The IAM represents nearly 40,000 Service Contract Workers in various industries, spread across more than 800 locations.
IAM members work at over 800 Service Contract Act locations across the country, primarily at military bases and federal institutions. Some of the IAM’s larger bargaining units include 4,000 SCA workers at Fort Rucker, Alabama; more than 1,000 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; nearly 800 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona; and 750 at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland.
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