On Monday, the Department of Labor sent a letter to
all state workforce agencies, administrators and liaisons, hoping to
deter defense contractors from notifying employees of diminishing
government funding, and urging them to forget about telling employees
about the potential for massive layoffs “right before Election Day.”
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill work to deliver a solution to a looming deadline that could “sequester” billions from the defense budget, the Obama administration is advising defense contractors to forget about the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act – ensuring employers that the standards in the law need not apply to them.
“Such federal announcements would be sudden and dramatic, and in such cases, consistent with the WARN Act, employers would not have to provide the full period of notice,” the letter stated.
While defense contractors and GOP lawmakers have been probing the White House for guidance on the sequestration, the Department of Labor’s only suggestion is to delay notification until after the November 6 election.
Members of both the House and Senate along both party lines are working to avoid more than $1 trillion in defense cuts, yet the Obama administration has yet to offer a solution to either the Department of Defense and defense contractors.
Under the Budget Control Act passed by Congress and approved by the President last year, massive mandatory cuts would go into effect on January 2 — jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of thousands in the defense industry.
Because the Pentagon would be forced to eliminate a substantial chunk of its budget, defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman stand to lose funding from the government.
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill work to deliver a solution to a looming deadline that could “sequester” billions from the defense budget, the Obama administration is advising defense contractors to forget about the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act – ensuring employers that the standards in the law need not apply to them.
“Such federal announcements would be sudden and dramatic, and in such cases, consistent with the WARN Act, employers would not have to provide the full period of notice,” the letter stated.
While defense contractors and GOP lawmakers have been probing the White House for guidance on the sequestration, the Department of Labor’s only suggestion is to delay notification until after the November 6 election.
Members of both the House and Senate along both party lines are working to avoid more than $1 trillion in defense cuts, yet the Obama administration has yet to offer a solution to either the Department of Defense and defense contractors.
Under the Budget Control Act passed by Congress and approved by the President last year, massive mandatory cuts would go into effect on January 2 — jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of thousands in the defense industry.
Because the Pentagon would be forced to eliminate a substantial chunk of its budget, defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman stand to lose funding from the government.
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