Machinists Call for Job Security for Service Contract Workers

The IAM is calling on the Biden administration to reinstate critical job security protections for Service Contract Act (SCA) workers, many of whom work at military bases across the country.

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 a variety of industries, spread across more than 800 locations.

In 2019, former President Trump rescinded Executive Order 13495, which President Obama implemented to provide vitally important job security to service contract workers. The order, known as “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts,” granted workers the right of first refusal for continued employment when an SCA government contractor or employer is replaced by a new successor contractor at the same location.  This policy benefited both the government and the workers by ensuring workforce continuity as government contracts change hands.

“Not only is President Trump’s petty rebuke of President Obama’s policy bad for government contracting efficiency, it is also disastrous for the workers who are displaced, along with their families and the communities where they reside,” wrote IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. in a letter to Biden. “We respectfully ask that you swiftly reinstitute EO 13495 for the sake of efficient government procurement and fairness to these workers and their families.”

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Updated: March 8, 2021 — 2:07 pm