To WARN or Not? Contractors Get Financial Cover to Withhold Layoff Notices
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said yesterday that he believed Lockheed Martin’s decision was “motivated by the same concern for their workers’ security as was their initial contemplation of WARN notices.”
“It appears companies will bow to the threat implicit in last week’s OMB guidance; withhold notices today or the government might not cover your court costs down the road,” McKeon said. “Let me be clear, neither the OMB guidance nor the Lockheed decision will protect a single defense industry job if sequestration occurs in January.”
GOP House leaders today went after the administration for the memo, especially as the cuts loom with no resolution in sight.
“For an administration that talks a lot about transparency, it is disappointing that they apparently think it is more important to protect their political interests than give hard working families any indication that they might in fact lose their job in 60 to 90 days due to inaction by the President and Senate Democrats,” said Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) blasted the “Friday evening news dump” that demonstrated “this is a White House in denial about the consequences of its own irresponsible actions.”
“As Commander-in-Chief, President Obama owes our troops a plan that ensures they have the resources to carry out their mission,” Boehner said. “If neither the president nor his Democratic majority in the Senate are prepared to offer an alternative, they should have the courage to act on the House-passed plan immediately and remove the threat of the looming cuts facing our armed services at this critical time.”
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires most employers with 100 or more workers to give 60 days’ notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. Graham noted Monday that as a senator, Obama wanted that lengthened to 90 days in the interest of workers’ rights.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the prospect of political embarrassment days before the election was “absolutely not” the impetus for the OMB guidance.
“I think the WARN Act action has been thoroughly explained and described, and individual companies like Lockheed make the decisions according to their own interests,” Carney said at today’s news briefing.
In response to Boehner and Cantor, Carney reminded all that the repeal of sequestration is explicitly tied by Democrats to letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire for upper-income brackets.
“That has been the singular obstacle to a comprehensive deficit reduction plan passing Congress, resolving the fiscal — so-called fiscal cliff,” he said. “If Speaker Boehner is as concerned as he seems to be in this statement about the fiscal cliff, then he, as leader of the House of Representatives, should bring back the House and pass the bill that the Senate passed extending the Bush-era tax cuts for 98 percent of the American people.”
Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki added “it shouldn’t be lost that this is all happening during the backdrop of a presidential election happening in 34 days.”
“And those statements sound remarkably similar to the comments that are being made by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan out on the campaign trail accusing the President of having a lack of details,” Psaki said. “And that’s a piece of it that certainly plays in — is a factor in the back-and-forth at this stage.”
McKeon accused Obama of issuing “politically motivated memos with dubious grounding in the law.”
“In so doing, the President eliminated the very reason for having the WARN act in the first place. Notifications will not be sent to those at risk, even though we have heard directly from CEOs in hearings this summer that layoffs will occur,” the chairman continued. “Further, even though the OMB directive purports to protect the defense industry against the costs of not complying with the WARN Act, they cannot guarantee how the courts would rule in such an action. Thus the President has pledged to compound the impact of sequestration by dedicating already scarce resources to cover needless court costs.”
“These directives have not enhanced our national security and they haven’t helped anyone’s job security,” McKeon said. “The only thing the President seems interested in securing is his own re-election.”
Jay Carney, just like his boss, is the ultimate truth barometer regarding this marxist-communist-mooslim appeasing administration: whatever Jay declares as “absolutely false” means it is actually true, and vice versa….know your enemy.
What the Republicans should do is issue a statement that legal costs will NOT be covered if (when) they win office.
Yes. The Republicans should say that they will block any funding of refunds for breaking the law. If the defense contractors are convinced that Obama will win, they may go ahead and break the law. If not, they’ll comply with the layoff notices right before election day.
Are you crazy. If they did that then Obama wins. He can come back and say,” See they want you to be out of a job” This is not what needs to be done. When The GreatLord O loses,Romney should tell the ones that kept quiet that they will not be allowed to bid on contracts for 5 years. Then the next time they will think about it before giving in to the Dems that will do anything to win!
The WARN act requires major employers to give 60 days notice of significant layoffs. Unless sequestration is killed, those jobs are going away on Jan 1st so the notice needs to go out in early November. All Obama is saying is that the companies can get away with violating the WARN act and that the taxpayers will pay for it. The jobs will still go away on Jan 1st. If Obama says anything, Romney can hammer him for violating the law and sticking the taxpayers with the multi-billion dollar tab.
Presidents have some flexibility in applying law, but there is no authority in history which allows such a subsidy for evading the law. It is in effect “Executive nullification” of laws already on the books. The President takes an oath to “faithfully execute the laws” and cannot grant himself a waiver from that duty.
Obama proposes to indemnify for civil liability which could run into the billions with the number of workers potentially affected by sequestration. It’s as if he sees himself as Supreme Dictator.
4 possible outcomes (well 5). Warn or Not, Republican Win or Democrat win – gives us
1. Warn and Republican’s win. No down side for Contractors
2. Warn and Democrat’s win. Downside is that now the Contractor is blacklisted
3. Not Warn and Republican’s win. Charges are brought (or maybe not)
4. Not Warn and Democrat’s win. Well now no charges or brought (or are covered according to current statements)
5. Not Warn and Democrat’s win. Wait double cross and still sue and costs aren’t covered.
I somehow suspect #5 is more likely than #4
There he goes again. Obama assuming his victory again. Just like his hot mic picked up his conversation with promises to the russians. I guess this election is all for show and the elites will put obama back in to complete the financial devastation to the country.
Obama again openly promoting others break the laws of our land and then pay them with our tax money as their reward. Obama does all this because the propaganda machines covers 98% of all the information.
No, what the GOP House ought to do is impeach O’bwana. The Prez takes an oath to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Does telling govt contractors to violate the law concerning notification to employees of looming lay-offs and pledging taxpayer money to pay for any damages sound anything like faithfully executing the law? As a male, I’m finding it impossible to support snivelling cowards in order to defeat evil Leftists in these elections.
“In so doing, the President eliminated the very reason for having the WARN act in the first place. Notifications will not be sent to those at risk, even though we have heard directly from CEOs in hearings this summer that layoffs will occur,” the chairman continued. “Further, even though the OMB directive purports to protect the defense industry against the costs of not complying with the WARN Act, they cannot guarantee how the courts would rule in such an action. Thus the President has pledged to compound the impact of sequestration by dedicating already scarce resources to cover needless court costs.” <===this right here is mother effing scary.
Ugh.
Great write up, Ms. [gorgeous purdy] Bridget Johnson.
America's patriots need to clean house.
ENOUGH.
Correction…. it’s ALL scarey and even worse are the people that believe it’s not a political move. If, by some remote chance, Romney can still be elected, first thing he needs to do is have the entire current administration put on trial for treason against the Constitution, something they swore to protect and obviously they are not. Mitt Romney’s latest move, to honor obama’s amnesty circumvention of immigration policy does not sit well with most conservatives I know. The Hispanic vote will never be on his side no matter what he does.
Most of the men who wrote our Constitution had spent some portion of their lives facing the VERY expansive British definition of treason. Consequently, treason in the US has a very narrow definition that pretty much requires proving the traitor was working directly for an enemy power. While I think Comrade Obama is promoting the interests of foreign powers, they’re not technically enemy powers. That said, if we ever restore a legitimate government there are plenty of other things we can charge them with.
Yes in 1780, since all laws were perceived as coming from the King, the violation of any law was treason and the punishment could be (and often was) death. Pickpocket – theft and treason against the Crown. Burglary? larcany? slander? again the crime and treason against the Crown. That is why treason is defined the way it is in the US Constitution.
This was my post I didn’t put name in place,I am not Anonymous I forgot
I was Anonymous I forgot too add my name
How much of this could have been avoided if the Senate had done its job and passed budgets? Has anyone tried to calculate the waste that has resulted from contractor-uncertainty these past couple of years? Instinct tells me that this sort of leaderless management has already cost the tax payer plenty.
Whether they warn the workers or not, the workers already know about this.
Romney absolutely must find a way to work this into the debate tomorrow night.
Florida absolutely must retire Bill Nelson.
Not passing budgets was part of the plan. The last budget passed included the $700+ billion “stimulus” spending. Since then, a series of continuing resolutions have effectively made that stimulus part of the baseline. We could cut the budget by over $700 billion just by reverting back to the FY 2008 spending levels and that would eliminate the majority of the budget deficits each year.
True, dems will never have budgets. Once Pelosi and the dems came in, any budget hearing was a farce including the required DHS and Pentagon hearings….all others were cancelled.
This admin is a lying sack
They apply one law when convenient and enforce another to whomever they conveniently select.
Her idea of Paygo was to have continuing resolutions: tack 25% on to all agency budgets and ‘deem’ the budget done, year after year.
Of course, as contractors, we had no work all year long waiting for her signature and then had two months to get one year’s worth of work done or else lose it.
Yes, we got WARN notifications but those were’nt as bad as getting the continuing resolutions which meant we would have no hours at all and have to go on leave without pay.
You guys are missing the big picture… by offering up taxpayer money to reimburse the contractors, the OMB is making a payment to the Obama campaign with federal money – clearly a crime. This is where we need to concentrate our firepower. It’s no different than a direct payment from the government to the Obama Campaign.
There is no other reasonable motive for the government to offer a waiver from the law with a promise of future civil indemnity. Why on earth would you do this? How does the federal government possibly benefit from such a deal?
Exactly. There is no waiver from the law.
The admin is more concerned about votes and popularity, in exchange, will pay for this cost and the lawsuits out of taxpayer money.
To heck with the workers and their families.
Law, what law? Legal extortion, illegal promises.
And exactly when did Congress appropriate the funds to pay these contractors? If the contractors are actually blindly stupid enough to try it, they should be blacklisted: Clearly they can’t be relied upon to actually build a $300 toilet seat.
The Republicans should indicate they will prosecute those politicians and functionaries that are counseling breaking the law.
Apparently, American workers thought wrong. They thought the WARN Act was meant to protect workers against sudden layoffs. It turns out, an older reading of the law, which nobody discovered when it was passed, was that it protects employers first. If they fire workers without notice, let alone a 60-day notice, taxpayers will bail them out from suffering any financial loss.
Pelosi famously said that Americans will get to know what’s in a law only after passing it. The reality, it seems, is even worse. Decades after passing a law, you may be blissfully unaware that what wasn’t in it initially can suddenly be inserted by executive order and still stay the same law.
I’ve never known someone so desperate to get elected that he will shred his entire legacy and destroy the country’s reputation of being a nation of laws to succeed.
The goal is full-blown socialism, which has both democrats and republicans in a lather.
The left is crazy about the government being in control of everything and…the republicans are too because, unfortunately, BOTH sides agree that they should be in charge of everything. It’s part and parcel of what makes up a politician who doesn’t understand our constitutional government, or, if they do, have abandoned it for the glitz and glamor of being one of the “insiders” (See: Boehner).
This is my rudimentary explanation of why republicans have not, in over three years protested overtly and loudly over the mis-governing of our nation. Hence, “If you’re not part of the solution…etc, etc.”.
And being part of the problem is what the republicans seem to be best at. Not making waves, not upsetting the apple cart, not confronting anyone even when Issa and Ryan have shown repeatedly that such actions, when forthright and correct, win popular sentiment with the people.
Sadly, conservatives are fighting two battles. One, against the out-and-out Marxism ladled upon us by the left and two, the internal dysfunction of the party we have to support in lieu of having a genuine conservative one.
Clearly, the administration thinks we are all a bunch of dummies. Issuing or not issuing the WARN doesn’t change the threat of sequestration. The administration should be actively taking the leadership to avoid sequestration from being implemented. WARN or not doesn’t save jobs – do they think we will be fooled?
WARN notices really don’t count for much. And if you are working for a government contractor these days, you’ve already seen people getting laid off in trickles and know that your job is in jeapardy anyway. I received 2 WARN notices during my career that were pulled back later on and nothing happened. Then when I actually was laid off when the program I was on was cancelled out of the blue I got less than 2 week’s notice. Companies play all kinds of games on whether they are required to WARN based on the total number of employees laid off as a percentage of the whole company, a percentage of a specific work site, or a percentage of a specific contract. It would be interesting, if mass layoffs do occur as a result of sequestration, to watch the class action suits and follow the money to see how much the administration is willing to back up their promise of covering the legal costs.
The law is the law . These families need to know who could or are on the list. They have billsthat have toa be paid. The cat is out on the bag do the right thing not a low inhuman thing that a uncaring self centered president is telling you to do.it will tarnish your company longer then Obama will be around. Your call at being a good company or a company that should go under and bought out by a company that puts there people first.!!!!!
Is the Obama administration requesting that defence contractors violate the law?
Is the Obama administration offering financial incentives for the defence contractors to violate the law?
Surely, their incitement to commit a crime is, in itself, a crime.
Does this mean that any government official who participated in this incitement to commit a crime could face criminal charges and imprisonment?
Not yet- embezzlement or misappropriation could only occur if they actually attempted to make good on this promise. There is, however, justification for impeachment over this. Unfortunately, this too must wait until January, as impeachment does not nullify the fact that Obama is the Democratic candidate for President and removing him before the end of his first term does not disqualify him from winning a second. You would think the Constitution would include a provision that a President who is impeached and removed from office would be disqualified from running again, but it doesn’t.
If the people elect an impeached president, it’s on them.
And just where, genius, is the House going to find the votes in the Democrat-controlled Senate to convict a Democrat President in the midst of a Presidential election? Try having a little political sense!
I can’t see how this isn’t the government suborning illegal activity. How can that be legal? And how can it be legal for a company to follow what they know is an illegal order?
Consider the small local businesses nearby. Does Obama think it is moral to keep these people in the dark about the hit their businesses are about to take? This is going to impact a lot of the people Obama claims to care about. The have a right to know what to expect, so that they can plan accordingly.
Seems to me that most of the contractors have branched out into green energy in one way or another. They want a slice of the pie no matter who is in office. So does this affect those workers too, or just the defense support?
Given that the administration has previously violated the law with impunity (e.g., EPA regulating CO2, DREAM act by executive order), suborning criminal activity by others is entirely consistent.
#1 Where is Obammer getting the federal funds to pay off the contractors?
I don’t recall hearing about congress allocating for this activity, so where does the administration get the authority to spend the money this way?
#2 Doesn’t a deliberate illegal action make all agreements/contracts null and void? How can the Executive branch pay off contractors for breaking the law?
Will the contractors end up on the hook for the financial penalties anyway since this is an illegal action on their part?
You are correct.
However, this regime is working day and night to make congress null and void. Congress, which is republican-heavy, will collectively vote against any money mismanagement from the Captain Socialist regime. Therefore, rather than work as the system is designed, which the regime feels is a totally voluntary thing and not subject to questioning, is pushing the socialist route by commandeering the reigns of money-control. They already have Bernanke and circumventing congress was easier than they thought, while the jerk writes another executive order, thinking he has the power to do so. Well, he has if congress does nothing.
And congress, exposing themselves now as a gaggle of cowards who like being in DC but not having to do the things that draw attention to themselves, is doing nothing, reinforcing the public’s contempt for them.
Again, I say it’s a generational human-nature failing. Been watching it all my life. Those in charge, no matter how wrong they are and how horrible things get, are quietly supported by those in the “hierarchy” whether overtly or just by remaining silent and letting it happen, and everything falls to sh*t. How many times I’ve seen it, in the military, in corporate America, no one in authority has any notion to call it out and identify it for what it is.
When incompetents are given a pass, they actually get comfortable in their own ineptitude. They believe they are superior and it results in people getting harmed, money being lost and major failings of all kinds. But…nobody wants to say anything….might lose their job. Might annoy the wrong people. Might label them as “uncooperative”. All three of which I consider badges of honor. Might as well be hated for what you are rather than what they claim you to be.
Note to the divider in chief: It’s not your private stash of bribe money, it’s our money we paid in income taxes, quite unlike a large majority of your cult followers that pay no income tax, you disingenuous poser.
This is about what I’d expect from the idiots in charge. First clue, the news is out. Absent action there will be layoffs among defense and government contractors. Does anyone think they don’t know this? Anyone?
If you work for a contractor, now you can’t know if you will be affected, or not. A prudent person would assume he is affected, and act (vote) accordingly.
How does this help the administration in any way? Anyone?
This is the essence of the conflict, and should be summarized by Romney at some point.
The WARN Act was passed on a purely partisan basis by the Democrats, over President Reagan’s objection, primarily to protect workers and communities from mid night mergers in the private sector which suddenly cashiered masses of workers. Our situation today is both well known, and different. The Democrats have not submitted a tax bill in three years; this fiscal mess is the result. From election day to Jan. 1, 2013 some gigantic tax and spend laws must be passed or major government programs and government contractors will be hit hard. No authorized spending.. no job. Notice of very possible lay offs can be found in any newspaper.
Romney should simply say that a President must be a leader, get fiscal laws past. And, if he is elected, all laws will be faithfully enforced. Reliance on vaporous non legal statements will have no weight. And any defense worker who would vote for Obama needs to examine the hole in his head. Our government has broken down and it desperately needs new management.
“If you work for a contractor, now you can’t know if you will be affected, or not. A prudent person would assume he is affected, and act (vote) accordingly.”
That’s right. Best to plan like you will be affected. That includes letting those family members that are voting for Obama know that due to the uncertainty, they shouldn’t expect anything for Christmas.
Never underestimate the ability of some in a workforce, especially a unionized workforce, to not get the message, or at least say they didn’t. I’ve gone to labor arbitration over whether or not a written notice that gave the exact date after which a person could be laid off with two weeks notice or pay was sufficiently clear to adequately communicate to employees with at least a high school education that they were likely to be laid off. AND I’VE LOST such cases. The union will just trot out a bunch of employees who’ll testify that they didn’t understand that they’d REALLY get laid off and some dumba** arbitrator will either buy the BS or think they can curry a little favor with the union by splitting the baby and giving the employees more notice or more severance.
Some of the workers are unionized, some aren’t. I wonder how that will affect things.
No, I really don’t wonder. I’m pretty sure I know how this will play out.
Any defense contractor has to consider what the current administration’s promises will be worth on Jan 21, 2013.
Those contractors also have to think about what the administrations threats will be worth if he’s re-elected. The defense contractors and aerospace companies are at the mercy of the government and can’t even export without government approval.
Just remember, every Obama promise has an expiration date. On the other hand, his grudges last forever.
Look for additional “air cover” to be provided by the newly re-activated “Gang Of Six Plus Two” to diligently work to find a bi-partisan solution. This will be used as a “See!? We’re still hard at work trying to find common ground here.”
They will throw up their hands at the end of December, slap themselves on the back and congratulate them for being above the fray and at least trying to get something done.
OK, I need to know how in Hell the Obama Junta can spend money to reimburse the contractors if they don’t have an appropriation for re-imbursing contractors for such expenses. It is possible that the CR’s appropriation language is so broadly worded that the Executive Branch really can spend money pretty much however it wants, at least within departments, but if that is true, it is indicative of even greater problems. This, of course, would go far to explain why the Administration has willfully thrown over Dead On Arrival budgets and then forced the Congress’ hand with shut down threats to get CRs. These people are simply evil!
“Oh no Mr. Contractor!, please don’t invoke that nasty Force Majeure clause in your big complicated defense contract!” (wink wink)
The principle of “subdidization” applies here. What the government subsidizes, we always get more of. These layoffs will be bigger and more catastrophic than they would otherwise be because the contractors’ separation costs will be subsidized. What a great time to purge that greying workforce and replace it with a fresh young politically compliant one.
Sure, but good luck finding young’ons that can work with 1980s mainframes and programing languages.
IIRC, several states have their own WARN laws which require even more lead time than the federal 60 days. All the bribes, threats, Obongo EOs and DOL diktats in the world will have no effect on those laws.
There is a fixed amount of money available for those programs. If Obama pays for the extra non-work by those that should have been given notice, many additional people will have to be laid off to cover those costs and so our military will get even less of the new equipment or other supplies that the contracts should be paying for.