Senators Call on GDIT to Address Wage Theft

Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkley wrote a letter to the CEO of General Dynamics and the President of GDIT calling on the company to address the systemic wage theft that we believe is occurring at its call centers.

The letter comes after several of us GDIT employees met with the Senators’ offices, and after thousands of us signed a petition calling on the Department of Labor to investigate misclassification and wage theft at GDIT’s call centers.

“We are writing in regards to numerous allegations of serious labor violations at the call centers General Dynamics Information Technology operates under its contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),” the Senators said in the letter. “Our respective offices recently met with GDIT employees from multiple CMS call centers and were deeply disturbed to hear reports of wage theft and unfair labor practices at these worksites. We were especially startled that these may not be isolated instances, but may in fact reflect systemic and repeated labor violations by GDIT.

“Our offices heard directly from GDIT contact center agents about the complexity of their responsibilities, and the specialized training, terminology, and subject-matter knowledge that their jobs require. We were dismayed to learn that these workers were classified in job categories intended for the most routine and repetitive work, as opposed to higher level designations that would entitle them to higher locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits.”

The Senators also called on GDIT to respect our freedom to join together for better pay and working conditions.

“GDIT employees also reported to our offices that GDIT misinformed them about their rights as federal service-contract workers. For example, they stated that GDIT has claimed repeatedly, and falsely, that it would be futile for them to seek improved wages. This includes multiple reports of GDIT managers telling employees that it would take ‘an act of Congress’ to raise their wages—despite the Service Contract Act plainly allowing employees to bargain collectively for higher wages if they have union representation.”

“We’re not going to sit idly by and be treated as poorly as we’ve been treated,” said Venus Nelson, a GDIT employee in Hattiesburg, Mississippi who met with the Senators and their offices in Washington, D.C. “We work hard, we deserve our pay, we deserve to be treated as fairly as anybody. And we’re excited to have a group of Senators standing with us.”

Read the entire letter from the Senators here.

Watch the video from our visit with Senator Bernie Sanders: