Hey, looks like Ike was onto something after all! From today’s Politico story about Lockheed Martin:
Right before Election Day, the
company is likely to notify the “vast majority” of its 123,000 workers that
they’re at risk of being laid off, said Greg Walters, the company’s vice
president of legislative affairs.
Walters’s comments are some of the
most specific threats yet from an industry that’s trying to head off the $500
billion in automatic cuts in defense spending set to begin taking effect Jan.
2. Called sequestration, the cuts are being phased in over 10 years, with about
$55 billion slated for 2013.
Unless Congress reaches a deal to
stave off the cuts, “we will find it necessary to issue these [layoff] notices
probably to the vast majority of our employee base,” Walters told POLITICO. …
Strangely, as the piece goes on to
note, only a tiny fraction a Lockheed Martin’s 123,000 workers would ultimately
lose their jobs, even if the entire sequestration happens. And almost none of
those jobs would be threatened for many months or (more likely) years after
January 2, since the cuts will be spread out over a decade. And yet somehow the
company feels it must alert the “vast majority” of its workforce just before
Election Day that they could soon be out on the street
Why? Here’s how Politico
sums up the explanation:
The company has little choice [about
timing], he explained, because federal law requires large employers to provide
two months’ notice to workers facing layoffs. … [T]he company plans to send out
mass notifications because it is unsure exactly which employees would be
affected.
Which is to say, it never occurred
to Lockheed Martin that it might be able mobilize 100,000 highly-motivated
lobbyists on its own behalf in the most politically sensitive moment on the
calendar. The company is just acting out of respect for protocol and a general
abundance of caution, with the interests of its employees—let’s call them the
“Lockheed family” if they don’t already do that in Bethesda—front-and-center.
Riiiiiiiiiight. And I’ve got a $5 billion aerial tanker I can get you a great deal
on...
Follow me on twitter: @noamscheiber
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Παρακαλούνται οι φίλοι που καταθέτουν τις απόψεις τους να χρησιμοποιούν ψευδώνυμο για να διευκολύνεται ο διάλογος. Μηνύματα τα οποία προσβάλλουν τον συγγραφέα του άρθρου, υβριστικά μηνύματα ή μηνύματα εκτός θέματος θα διαγράφονται. Προτιμήστε την ελληνική γλώσσα αντί για greeklish.