650 workers at APG might strike Sunday
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About 650 contract workers at Aberdeen Proving Ground are threatening to strike, starting Sunday. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted all day yesterday on a contract that they said does not offer even a cost-of-living raise. Results of the vote were not made public yesterday. In an e-mail, Henry Scott, a union representative, said the weekly pay raises offered in the three-year contract "don't even amount to a tank of gas." The workers are employed by three contractors who serve the Aberdeen Test Support Services, an Army agency that tests vehicles, equipment, weapons and ammunition for all branches of the military, the Department of Defense and private industry. Most of the workers are employed by Jacobs Technology, a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group of Pasadena, Calif. Two Virginia contractors also fill jobs for ATSS, including Science and Technology Corp. of Virginia Beach and Lo-Sec Corp. of Manassas. "The Army has a contract with Jacobs," said Pat McClung, APG spokeswoman. "This problem is between Jacobs and its employees." McClung, who has worked at the post for 37 years, could not recall any strike there.
