SCA Employees Deserve the Best

…and IUE-CWA can help you get it. As a working person providing a service for the U.S. Government, you can join together by organizing under the National Labor Relations Act and negotiate a contract with higher wages and benefits than the minimum amount that the government and your company have determined that you deserve for your labor.  

The IUE-CWA has a long history of helping Service Contract workers organize their own Union, and negotiate their own Union Contract. Click here today to find out how you too can join the IUE-CWA, part of the CWA family with 700,000 members. 

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT THE SERVICE CONTRACT ACT AND UNIONS

QUESTION: What is the Service Contract Act?

ANSWER: The Service Contract Act (SCA) of 1965, as amended, provides labor standards for most employees of contractors who provide services to Federal agencies.

QUESTION: How do I know if I am covered by the SCA?

ANSWER: Look for a copy of this poster at your workplace. Typically, it will be on the company’s bulletin board along with other government mandated postings, i.e., Safety and Health in the Workplace (OSHA), Workers' Compensation Employee Rights and Responsibilities, Equal Employment Opportunity, etc.

QUESTION: How are my wages determined under the SCA?

ANSWER: For SCA employees not covered by a Union contract, the Department of Labor (DoL) sets minimum wages by doing periodic wage surveys in individual regions of the country.

For Union members, the minimum wages set for you by the government are replaced by the wages you negotiate in your Union Contract. We have included a sample here.

QUESTION: As an unrepresented Service Contract employee, how are my benefits decided?

ANSWER: For workers not covered by a Union contract, the DoL, in the Wage Determination (WD), sets the fringe benefits level: currently at $3.01 per hour.

Union members can negotiate a new and higher level of fringe benefits in their Union contract.

QUESTION: I don’t belong to a union. What happens if a new contractor takes over the service contract where I work?

ANSWER: Without a Union Contract, the new contractor is only obligated to pay the minimum wages and benefits as established by the DoL in the WD. Additionally, there is no law that obligates the new contractor to keep you or any of your fellow workers when the contract is renewed. As you have probably already experienced, many times the new contractor wins the service contract by bidding the job using fewer workers who are working fewer hours for less money (new classifications).

Union members, on the other hand, are protected by their Union contract, as well as Section 4(c) of the Act. The new contractor cannot pay less than the wages and fringe benefits provided for in the Union contract. Frequently, competing contractors will contact the IUE-CWA and see an agreement on the conversion. The conversion is noted in the bid, ensuring that the work, wages, and benefits level will continue without disruption.

QUESTION: What if my employer says that it can’t afford a union?

ANSWER: First, it’s not their choice whether you have a Union or not, it’s your decision. I’m sure you have heard them say, “I’m paying all the law requires me to pay you,” and they are – they are paying you the minimum amount that is set in the WD.

Just remember, Section 2(a)(1) & (2) of the Act allows you to negotiate for higher wages and benefits than allowed for in the WD. And furthermore, these added costs will not be a financial burden on the company, as the Act allows these added costs to be passed on the government.

So why not click here today and find out how you, too, can have your own Union contract?