Some fort workers face pay cut, loss of health benefits

FORT IRWIN • Fort contract workers are taking a hit as the federal government turns a series of contracting positions — private sector jobs — into government jobs and are cutting wages and benefits or laying off workers altogether, according to officials from IAP World Service, one of the major contractors on post.

Workers are getting pink slips as the positions turn into government jobs and told that they can either take back their previous jobs — but with lower pay and without the health benefits once offered to full-time workers — or get laid off altogether, according to Tom Lewellen, union representative for Teamsters Local 166, which represents IAP employees at Fort Irwin. About 400 Barstow residents work for IAP, he said.

So far nine IAP workers have been given layoff notices, said Lewellen, and by the end of January, 80 more workers will be laid off. IAP employees include crossing guards, gym staff and other public works positions that pay up to $16 to $17 an hour for full-time workers, according to Lewellen.

Barstow resident Chuck Clark, IAP property management specialist and the union’s chief steward, gave an example: an IAP worker was recently laid off from her recreation assistant senior position that paid $16.21 an hour and told she could take back her job at $12.92 an hour — approximately a 20 percent pay cut.

“People can’t afford that,” Lewellen said, listing other reductions. Previously, part-time IAP workers could clock up to 32 hours a week. The government jobs, however, cap it at 20 hours a week. The part-time government positions are assigned flex time, he also noted, meaning that hours can be spliced up and workers can be assigned more erratic schedules.

According to Fort Irwin spokesman Ethic Smith, fort contracts regularly change at the beginning of each year, including some contracting jobs turning into federal jobs.

However IAP general manager Jeff Williamson noted that there has recently been an increased “push for in-sourcing,” or making more contracting jobs on post federal positions.

Lewellen believes that changing the private sector jobs into civil service positions is a way that the government is “trying to over-inflate employee numbers” resulting from federal stimulus dollars aimed at creating jobs.

Clark said the contractor has been notified that the next wave of jobs to be affected will include emergency dispatchers and fire prevention employees on post.

According to Lewellen, other private contractors on post — including large local employers Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technical Services — haven’t been impacted yet. Officials from Northrop Grumman and Raytheon did not return requests for comment Wednesday.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4122 or elee@desertdispatch.com

Major local employers at Fort Irwin
Northrop Grumman: 800 employees.
IAP World Service: 481 employees.
Raytheon Technical Services: 396 employees.