The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents 600,000 members, is urging Congress to pass the Fair Pay for Federal Contractors Act. This bipartisan bill, identified as S. 2963 in the Senate and H.R. 5657 in the House, aims to guarantee that federal contract workers receive back pay for lost wages during the ongoing government shutdown.
After the recent federal government shutdown began, several lawmakers introduced this legislation. The sponsors include Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Representative Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).
IAM International President Brian Bryant addressed Congress on behalf of affected workers. “Through no fault of their own, many of these families faced the reality of missing payments on their mortgages, student loans, school tuition, car loans, health care premiums, daycare, interest fees, and so many other expenses,” Bryant wrote to lawmakers in both chambers. “Today, they are looking down the barrel of a similar fate. Contract workers and their families should not suffer the consequences of a shutdown they had no hand in creating. Dedicated federal contract workers maintain the aircraft, vehicles and systems that keep our military mission-ready and our nation secure. Many live paycheck to paycheck and are among the first to feel the devastating impact of a government shutdown.”
In addition to supporting swift passage of this act, IAM criticized what it described as an unlawful threat from the Trump administration to withhold back pay from federal employees affected by the shutdown.
The union expressed solidarity with all federal and contract workers and called for quick action from lawmakers to end the shutdown and approve legislation ensuring working families do not face financial hardship due to missed paychecks.
