Temporary layoffs at Armatec, announced last year in the wake of a stop-work order from the U.S. Marine Corps, are now permanent, the firm says, after the contract the Dorchester-based defense contractor was involved with was terminated by the U.S. government.
Armatec Survivability designs and manufacturers armour systems for military vehicles, and had been subcontracted by a U.S. firm, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), to provide armour for the Marine Corp’s Amphibious Assault Vehicle survivability upgrade program.
In September, SAIC, the prime contractor for the AAV program, was notified of a stop-work order issued by the U.S. Marine Corps, resulting in a domino effect that led to Armatec issuing temporary layoff notices to 28 workers.
A month later, Armatec says it was notified by SAIC that the entire contract had been terminated for convenience by the U.S. government.
“As a result of these events in the United States and the local uncertainty in the business environment, Armatec has taken the unfortunate decision to make 26 temporary layoffs a permanent termination,” said company spokesperson, Rod Flick, in a statement.
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The revised figure in the number of layoffs reflected employees who had found other employment and had been taken off the temporary layoff list, Flick said.
Asked to elaborate on what “local uncertainty” influenced the firm’s decision, Flick would only say it related to the export market and Armatec’s “ability to conduct business due to government policy or relations.”
“During the course of the contract, Armatec had met all requirements for quality and schedule. Termination was a U.S. Government decision which was beyond any efforts by Armatec to prevent the outcome.”
A Marine Corps spokesperson told the website DefenseNews in September that the decision to terminate the contract was made to align programs with the National Defense Strategy and to follow guidance from Congress to reduce legacy program spending, and instead, focus on modernization.
The AAV, spokesperson Manny Pacheco told the website, no longer met “the needs of modern Marine amphibious forcible entry operations.”
In September, Flick told 980 CFPL the initial work-stop order came as a surprise to both them and to SAIC.
Before the layoffs, Armatec employed roughly 130 people. Workers at the firm are not unionized.
Armatec says it’s working to obtain new contracts to replace the lost work.
– With files from Jacquelyn LeBel
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