A worker welds a vehicle part in this file photo from the Anniston Army Depot. (Photo: Anniston Star/file)
In a Wednesday press release, depot officials announced projected workload changes for the next fiscal year will mean 386 temporary employees will keep their jobs through March. Those workers’ contracts had been scheduled to expire in September.
"Our production numbers for fiscal year 2013 look promising," Depot commander Col. Timothy Sullivan said in the press release. “The nature of this business forces us to remain flexible in order to meet mission requirements. We are hopeful that this tempo remains steady, which provides the possibility of further extensions.”
When faced with budget cuts and the drawdown from the Iraq War, depot officials announced in January that 562 temporary employees’ jobs would end once their contracts expired. Temporary workers are hired for short-term periods based on the Army’s needs.
To date, 176 of those workers have been released as their contracts ended, they voluntarily resigned, or through veterans in temporary jobs moving to vacant permanent positions. Additionally, 320 permanent employees opted to retire under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority/Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment program.
The latest workload increase is not related to an announcement last week that the depot might receive work from the Kingdom of Morocco to refurbish M1A1 Tanks.
“We do work through foreign military sales all the time,” said Clester Burdell, public affairs officer for the depot. “But the Morocco deal is still dialogue going on and there has been no confirmation of increased funding.”
Congress has until July 17 to pass a resolution to deny the deal with Morocco.
