Lockheed Martin settles wage violations at Coast Guard center near Petaluma

Lockheed Martin Corp. has agreed to pay $201,000 in back wages to 18 workers in a settlement of allegations that it violated prevailing wage laws while under contract at the Coast Guard facility near Petaluma, the Department of Labor announced Tuesday.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted an investigation and determined Lockheed had improperly classified technical instructors/course developers who were working at the Coast Guard training center at Two Rock. The workers were underpaid as a result of the misclassifications, a violation of the federal Service Contract Act, according to the department.

“Government contracts specify in detailed language how pay and benefits are to be determined,” Susana Blanco, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco, said in a press release. “Employers must follow these rules, so that workers are paid correctly. Government contractors, large and small, should be aware of their obligations under the law.”

The federal law requires contractors performing services on covered federal contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay such workers no less than the prevailing local wages and benefits.

Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed won a training contract for the Two Rock facility in 2011, succeeding New York-based L-3 Communications. At the time, L-3 employed roughly ?95 employees at the training center, including instructors, instructional designers, logistics analysts, computer systems analysts, graphic artists, project leaders and technical writers.

It remained unclear Tuesday how many of the L-3 employees were later hired by Lockheed and if they included some of the 18 workers who now are receiving back wages.

The Labor Department’s investigation concerned wages paid between May 1, 2011, and Oct. 1, 2012, said Celeste Hale, an assistant district director with the department in San Francisco.

Lockheed continues to have a training contract with the Two Rock facility, according to both Hale and a Coast Guard spokesperson.

The company’s instructors today provide training in communications, navigation, cooking, medical support and information technology, according to the Coast Guard. Under the contract, Lockheed also develops distance learning curriculum.

“Lockheed Martin has agreed to settle this matter to focus on the critical and important work we are performing with our customers,” the company said in a statement. Both Lockheed and the Labor Department “agree that the settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing.”

Formally known as Training Center Petaluma, the Two Rock facility is the Coast Guard’s largest training center on the West Coast. It trains cooks, medics, storekeepers, yeoman, information technicians, electronics technicians and operations specialists. It also houses a Chief Petty Officer Academy.

The training center has about 333 active duty personnel, 154 civilian employees and 54 private contractors from five companies, according to the Coast Guard.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the amount of money Lockheed Martin is paying.