Machinist members working for Flight Safety Defense Corporation ratified a one-year agreement on Monday, October 11, 2021. The new deal includes a ratification bonus, a general wage increase, increased lead pay, improved holiday language, and an increased clothing allowance.
Our IAM members working for Flight Safety Defense Corporation (FSDC) are a part of the Aircrew Training System (ATS) program for the Air Force’s newest high-tech refueling aircraft, the KC-46 Pegasus at McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas. These remarkably skilled and devoted machinist members train pilots, refuel boom operators, and maintain flight simulators for the United States Air Force.
In 2019, the crew spent 75 days on an unfair labor strike against Flight Safety Defense Corporation who neglected to include Service Contract Act (SCA) language into the ATS contract they have with the United States Air Force Contracting Division. The Service Contract Act is a US labor law that requires the government to use its bargaining power to ensure fair wages for workers when it buys services from private contractors. Without such a designation, the IAM members at McConnell AFB, who train the men and women who operate the high-tech equipment for the USAF, are being compensated significantly less than their counterparts working in the same industry.
In April of 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) ruled that the ATS work performed for the KC-46 did not qualify for the SCA inclusion. August of 2021, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor reversed the 2019 decision. On October 2, 2021, the United States Air Force Contracting Administrative Board appealed the DOL’s reversal decision, putting the SCA inclusion on hold until the USAF appeal is determined.
