![]() ![]() A letter Marks wrote to affected employees attributed the changes in post differential and hazardous duty pay to the improving security situation. Interpreters are also upset about the possibility that Iraq’s security improvements are behind the cuts. "I’m not going to debate with one lawyer’s interpretation," he said. GLS maintains that it can legally let its interpreters go, although Ebner would not respond to Burlison’s assertions. If GLS expected to pay a sum, they cannot modify it unless the contract permits it, and this contract doesn’t." "They are clearly in breach with what they’re doing. "The legality of this centers only on the contract," he said. In either case, he thinks GLS has no right to fire them however much they make. He added, though, that he thinks it would still be discriminatory to fire them even if they were "at will" employees. In Burlison’s interpretation, that makes them so-called "for-cause" employees, and their decision not to sign a revised contract is not a good enough reason to fire them. Their contract also contains contradictory language that both allows them to be fired at will and requires the employer to have a justification for firing them, he said. ![]() a La Canada, Calif.-based attorney who’s helping some of the interpreters - said that kind of pressure isn’t allowed. "Every interpreter has to make a decision about whether they wish to continue employment," he said. Ebner didn’t say they would be fired if they didn’t accept the changes, but he did say they would be required to sign. Many of the interpreters’ individual contracts aren’t set to expire for another few months. Six- and 12-month completion bonuses will also be reduced. Post differential and hazardous duty pay will each be cut from 35 percent to 25 percent of the base salary. The company plans to pay its interpreters a single, fixed base salary for each pay grade instead of the widely varying salaries interpreters now receive. "We’re talking about distributing this fairly across the board," he said. Ebner would not talk about specifics of those cuts or whether the pay of James Marks, the chief executive officer, was affected except to say that "no one was exempt." The company decided to spread those cuts across the board, including corporate and management salaries. However, Stars and Stripes has learned that the changes to the contract involved a nine-figure reduction without any change to the number of interpreters GLS was required to provide. Douglas Ebner, a spokesman for DynCorp, the majority owner of GLS, said the changes to GLS’ contract required it to cut costs, forcing managers to examine where to make those cuts.Įbner would not speak about how much the contract was cut or why the cuts were made. ![]()
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