Dear Representative:
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I urge you to vote for the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 6395. This bipartisan legislation contains critical funding to support our troops and hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in aerospace and shipbuilding.
In addition to maintaining employment in our defense industrial base, H.R. 6395 also includes several provisions that will improve labor conditions for members of the military and civilian employees at the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. It provides a 3% pay increase for members of the Armed Services and additional pandemic leave and paid parental leave for most federal workers, though, regrettably, not postal employees, as they continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill also protects federal workers from unnecessary layoffs due to arbitrary employment caps that favor contractors and the use of military personnel to perform civilian work.
Finally, this year, the NDAA further requires each federal agency to establish anti-discrimination programs under the new Elijah Cummings Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination Act. The year’s legislation also includes the Corporate Transparency Act, a crucial first step towards addressing the vulnerabilities in our government’s anti-money laundering safeguards, preventing tax evasion and strengthening our financial system with updates to our anti-money laundering laws.
We urge you to vote yes on H.R. 6395, the FY 2021 NDAA.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department