CWA Uncovers More Evidence of Wage Theft at General Dynamics Information Technology Call Centers

Since CWA's work helping customer service professionals at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) fight wage theft gained widespread attention in January, more than 2,000 current and former GDIT call center workers have come forward to call on the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate wage violations at the company. GDIT call center agents help Americans navigate Medicare and other programs, many of them doing jobs that require highly specialized skills.

CWA filed complaints this week with the DOL on behalf of workers at five additional call centers, exposing GDIT for illegally misclassifying thousands of workers so the company could underpay them.

"These complaints provide further evidence that thousands of workers at a majority of GDIT call centers across the nation are systemically underpaid," said CWA President Chris Shelton. "That's why we are calling on the Department of Labor to conduct an enterprise-wide investigation at GDIT."

"I'm proud of the work that I do – helping Americans gain access to healthcare under the Affordable Care Act and Medicare programs," said Kelly Grove, an agent who handles Medicare claims at a General Dynamics CMS call center in London, Ky. "I love talking to the people we serve, I always remember to treat them with special care because they are somebody's grandmother or grandfather. But GDIT doesn't offer me the same care. They're not concerned about who I am or what type of service I'm providing."

"Before we started organizing and coming forward about these issues of wage theft, GDIT made it seem like we were replaceable," said Tatiana Baez, who is a call center agent from the Tampa call center. "I am glad that we are standing together to make things better for my fellow agents who work so hard day in and day out."

If the DOL confirms this widespread wage theft is occurring, CWA estimates that tens of thousands of current and former GDIT employees stand to recover more than $100 million in back wages since 2013, which would make it the largest federal contract wage theft case in history.

GDIT also has faced unfair labor practice charges for illegal threats, surveillance, and interrogation of workers seeking to exercise their freedom to join together and negotiate improvements in their wages and working conditions.

Read the feature story in the Washington Post about GDIT's wage theft here.