The New Obama Administration Releases Rules for Government Contractors

(MoneyWatch)  One of the biggest Democratic complaints over the last eight years has been that the Federal Government has used too many contractors. President Obama on Friday, FederalTimes.com reports, released three new executive orders related to the use of contractors. All are related to strengthening the rights of contract employees over their corporate employers. One that is actually very good for people working as contractors is that companies winning a contract must try to hire the qualified employees from the old contract. This is only for service contracts but that is a pretty broad definition of work. Many times in the past the new company would try to hire many of the old workers, especially if the government asked them to, but there was no guarantee you would keep your job. The other two rules relate to unionization of the workers. One makes it required for companies to notify their employees of their rights including that to unionize. The last order ends the ability of companies to bill the government for costs related to fighting attempts to unionize. Obama was definately going to be friendlier to the unions and these orders are the first in many more to come.