Mar 12th, 2010 · New York City has reached a settlement with first responders and ground zero workers who were sickened by the dust from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The $657 million package was negotiated by a special entity created to head off lawsuits against the city and its contractors. The plan still needs to be approved by a judge and the workers.
Mar 2nd, 2010 · When the House Ethics Committee dropped charges against seven members of the Appropriations Committee last week, it signaled that lawmakers can keep on directing that federal dollars be spent with contractors who give them campaign contributions. But it looks a lot like condoning practices that the committee rejected just a few years ago.
Feb 11th, 2010 · The Internal Revenue Service and 37 states are cracking down on companies that try to trim payroll costs by illegally classifying workers as independent contractors, rather than as full employees, The Associated Press has learned. The practice costs governments billions in lost revenue and can leave workers high and dry when they are hurt at work or are left jobless.
Feb 11th, 2010 · Many Iraqis were incensed in when a federal judge threw out charges against five security contractors accused of killing civilians in a Baghdad Square in 2007. Washington Post reporter Del Quentin Wilber explains how the sensitive case against the Blackwater Worldwide guards collapsed.
Feb 6th, 2010 · A Shiite militant group in Iraq has posted an Internet video showing an American it says it abducted and who appears to be a contractor reported missing by the U.S. military.
Jan 18th, 2010 · In an echo of a passage from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, the snow in a neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y., turned pink. When a demolition contractor tore down an old business, it sent up a cloud of red food-coloring powder.
Jan 11th, 2010 · Public-interest watchdog T. Christian Miller talks about the challenges military-contractor employees face in getting medical treatment after returning from conflict zones like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dec 17th, 2009 · The number of contractors hired to work in Afghanistan and Iraq puts the total number of personnel there at a level comparable to the Vietnam War. The use of contractors frees up troops to perform combat missions and saves money — but it also has drawbacks.