Pantex Nuclear Workers, CNS Reach Tentative Agreement

For Immediate Release: October 3, 2015
Contact: Ron Ault, 202-508-3705 or Tara Landis, 410-991-6615

Amarillo, TX–After more than a month on strike, the Amarillo Metal Trades Council (MTC), a 10-union coalition representing nearly 1,200 workers at the Pantex Nuclear Weapons facility, and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) have reached a tentative agreement.

The MTC struck after more than seven months of bargaining when, on August 28, CNS-Pantex presented its “best, last and final” offer. At that time, 87 percent of the unionized workers voted to strike the Amarillo facility.

In late September, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) Director, Allison Beck, called the two parties back to the table to resume talks. The proposed agreement is a direct result of those new negotiations.

Highlights of the agreement include improved medical coverage with controlled out-of-pocket medical costs and contained premium increases for current and future employees; maintenance of the defined benefit pension plan for current employees; maintained sick leave earnings and bank; and improved short-term disability benefits.

“This was a hard fought battle,” says MTC President Clarence Rashada. “This strike was never about wages. It was about holding onto hard-won benefits and protecting our member’s future. In this agreement were able to improve several problem areas in the offer that was rejected. It will now go back to our members to vote on, ultimately, they have the final say.”

Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO President Ron Ault is pleased with the proposed agreement and thanked FMCS Deputy Director Scot L. Beckenbaugh, who acted as mediator. “I am very happy that, with the assistance of Federal Mediator Beckenbaugh, the parties were able to come to an fair and equitable agreement that restores the workers hard earned benefits,” said Ault.

In addition to the benefits package, the tentative agreement also gives employees annual wage increases of two percent. MTC represented employees will vote on the proposed agreement on Sunday, October 4.

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The Metal Trades Department is a trade department of the AFL-CIO. It was chartered in 1908 to coordinate negotiating, organizing and legislative efforts of affiliated metalworking and related crafts and trade unions. Seventeen national and international unions are affiliated with the MTD today. More than 100,000 workers in private industry and federal establishments work under contracts negotiated by MTD Councils. Workers retain membership in their own trade unions.

The Amarillo Metal Trades Council is a 10-union Council within the Metal Trades Department that represents roughly 1,200 Pantex workers. The unions include: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW); International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); United Association (UA); International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers(IBB); Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART); International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT); Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU); International Association of Fire Fighters.

Union Officials Cautiously Optimistic as FMCS Calls Parties Back to the Table in Pantex Nuclear Facility Strike

CORRECTION: The original post of this release stated that the meeting would be held September 28, that date is incorrect. No date has been decided upon at this time.

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2015

Contact:   Ron Ault, 202-508-3705

Or Clarence Rashada, 806-674-1763

 

Amarillo, TX—In a somewhat unusual move, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) Director Allison Beck has called DOE contractor Consolidated Nuclear Services and the Amarillo Metal Trades Council (MTC) back to the bargaining table in an effort to resolve the dispute that led to a strike at the Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Amarillo, TX.

In a statement released by the FMCS, Beck states: “While FMCS has been monitoring the situation closely and mediation is normally a completely voluntary process, we cannot stand by and let this critical nuclear weapons facility continue to experience a work stoppage.”

Beck has assigned Deputy Director Scot L. Beckenbaugh as the Federal Mediator.

The move is welcome news to Metal Trades Department President Ron Ault and Amarillo MTC President Clarence Rashada, however both are cautious in their optimism that a resolution will be met.

“This strike has never been about wages,” says Rashada. “It has always been about maintaining the benefits that we have earned and bargained for in previous collective bargaining agreements.”

“I’m pleased that the FMCS has stepped in to assist us in these negotiations,” says Ault. “These workers deserve a fair and equitable contract that includes benefits commensurate with the service they provide our nation.”

Metal Trades Council-represented workers at Pantex are responsible for the nuclear weapons life extension programs: weapons dismantlement; development, testing and fabrication of high explosives components; and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits. This is the only facility in the U.S. responsible for the assembly, disassembly and replacement of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

# # #

The Metal Trades Department is a trade department of the AFL-CIO. It was chartered in 1908 to coordinate negotiating, organizing and legislative efforts of affiliated metalworking and related crafts and trade unions. Seventeen national and international unions are affiliated with the MTD today. More than 100,000 workers in private industry and federal establishments work under contracts negotiated by MTD Councils. Workers retain membership in their own trade unions.

 

The Amarillo Metal Trades Council is a10-union Council within the Metal Trades Department that represents roughly 1,200 Pantex workers. The unions include: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW); International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); United Association (UA); International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers(IBB); Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART); International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT); Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU); International Association of Fire Fighters.

 

Nuclear Workers at DOE Amarillo Plant Vote to Strike

Contact: Ron Ault,
Metal Trades Department President 202-341-2036

Or Clarence Rashada,
Amarillo Metal Trades Council President 806-674-1763

Amarillo, TX–After more than seven months at the bargaining table with Consolidated Nuclear Security Pantex (CNS), 87 percent of the unionized workers at the Amarillo, Texas, facility have voted to strike.

The Amarillo Metal Trades Council represents workers at the Department of Energy (DOE) Pantex facility. Workers have been in contract negotiations with CNS Pantex since January 2015. In early August, CNS Pantex representatives put forth what the company called their “best, last and final offer.” That proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by a 10-1 margin by the workers. The ratification vote took place late last night, with 93 percent of those eligible to vote casting ballots.

Since voting down the last contract offer, the Amarillo Metal Trades Council negotiating team and company representatives have met, but the two sides remain at an impasse.

“Wages are not the issue,” says Clarence Rashada, president of the Metal Trades Council. “Benefits, sick leave, medical coverage, prescription drugs, those are the issues.”

Rashada pointed out that the employer is asking to eliminate defined benefit pensions for new hires and to increase healthcare costs for retirees.

Workers at CNS Pantex are responsible for the nuclear weapons life extension programs; weapons dismantlement; development, testing, and fabrication of high explosives components; and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits.

“These workers face dangerous situations every day when they go to work. The Department of Energy and CNS Pantex know that these workers risk exposure to cancer-causing chemicals daily, yet the DOE has imposed a ridiculous policy upon its contractors that limits benefits based on a flawed market-based value formula,” says Ron Ault, president of the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

Ault is referring to DOE Policy 350.1, which requires contractors use a Benefit Value Study (BenVal) to determine the value of the assessed benefits package of similar organizations in the same industry—also known as comparator organizations—to determine the value of health care and pension benefits for employees. The policy explicitly limits contractor reimbursements to 105 percent of the value of the BenVal survey. If the cost is more than five percent of the other organization’s plan then the contractor has to submit a “corrective action plan to achieve conformance” to a DOE contracting officer.

“The DOE has hamstrung its contractors and limited the benefits for employees at our nation’s nuclear facilities with this policy,” says Ault. “You cannot use non-union companies such as Sprint Nextel for comparison to workers who deal with weapons grade plutonium. There are no legitimate comparator organizations that do what these workers do.”

Workers have also cited the “Human Reliability Program (HRP)” as a factor in voting down the contract. The program can revoke security access from a worker based on a “tip” charging that the worker committed a violation without allowing the worker to defend himself.

“There’s no system of redress in these instances, and that’s unfair,” said Ault. “We need checks and balances.”

# # #

The Metal Trades Department is a trade department of the AFL-CIO. It was chartered in 1908 to coordinate negotiating, organizing and legislative efforts of affiliated metalworking and related crafts and trade unions. Seventeen national and international unions are affiliated with the MTD today. More than 100,000 workers in private industry and federal establishments work under contracts negotiated by MTD Councils. Workers retain membership in their own trade unions.

The Amarillo Metal Trades Council is a10-union Council within the Metal Trades Department that represents roughly 1,200 Pantex workers. The unions include: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW); International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE); United Association (UA); International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers(IBB); Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART); International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT); Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU); International Association of Fire Fighters.

The Effect of DOE Policy 350.1 on Representation and Morale On Union-Represented Contractor Personnel

“Certain critical skills are unique to the enterprise and, according to NNSA officials, can only be developed within its secure, classified environment. According to these officials, it generally takes a minimum of 3 years of on-the-job training to achieve the skills necessary to succeed in most critical skills positions…

…M&O contractors have broadly similar retention initiatives. While M&O officials at all sites in the enterprise told us that compensation packages—that is, salary and benefits—are ultimately the most important factors in employee retention.” —2012 GAO Report, Modernizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise.

In 1998, the Procurement office of the Department of Energy (DOE) developed a “policy” regarding contractor reimbursement for employee fringe benefits.

Order 350.1, establishes a so-called “market-based” formula. The order directs that a Benefit Value Study (BenVal) must show that the per capita cost of a benefit plan is no more than five percent higher than the average value of the assessed benefits package of similar organizations in the same industry – also known as comparator organizations. It requires DOE contractors to survey the benefit packages of “comparator” companies in a region in order to establish cost parameters within which the contractor establishes the “value” of pension and health care benefits. The policy explicitly limits contractor reimbursements to 105 percent of the “value” that this survey establishes. If that cost is more than five percent of the other organization’s plan then the contractor has to submit “a corrective action plan to achieve conformance” to a DOE contracting officer.

This policy was held in abeyance until 2005, when the then-DOE Secretary Sam Bodman attempted to implement it. That initial issuance was suspended for one year when congressional sources pointed out that DOE had failed to submit the policy to the Federal Register to elicit public comment. In 2006, Congress explicitly rejected implementation citing the concerns by the Metal Trades Department affiliated unions, and others, that 350.1 directly undermines defined benefit pension plans—many of which have been in effect for DOE contractor personnel for 50 years or more.

DOE claims that this policy is necessary to restrain what they describe as the “out of control costs of defined benefit plans” and employee health care. However, DOE is ignoring several compelling facts that contradict the legitimacy of this policy.
First, as a one size fits all policy, 350.1 ignores the legal rights and responsibilities of unions and union members. When DOE explicitly instructs a contractor as to what can or cannot be negotiated, DOE becomes a party at the bargaining table.
It is noteworthy that DOE tried initially to impose this policy without prior public notice. When the notice was ultimately published in the Federal Register for public comment, those comments were overwhelmingly negative. Out of hundreds of public comments that were submitted in April and May of 2007, virtually none endorsed the policy. Dozens of comments from institutions—unions, coalitions of public interest groups, professional actuaries and benefit professionals—called the policy misguided, “outside the purview of DOE’s mandate,” imposing adverse effects on workers and retirees, and a “dangerous policy precedent.” Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sided with the negative comments submitted by unions, noting that the policy would be a “direct infringement upon employer benefit decisions.”

Yet, despite this evidence of overwhelming opposition and concern about the effects of this policy, DOE chose to put it into effect. Even the Government Accountability Office (GAO) took note of this incongruity, pointing out in its June 2008 report (GAO-08-642R):

DOE officials acknowledged that there was no formal compiled record or summary analysis of the documentation and factors considered before notice 350. 1 was issued. We found that the documentation provided to us contained only limited evidence that DOE had considered policy alternatives, the sensitivities of stakeholders to the policy choices reflected in Notice 350.1, or the near- and long-term financial and mission impacts of the changes made. Further, the decision document reflecting the Deputy Secretary’s approval of Notice 350.1 did not include the basis on which approval was recommended.

The policy also ignores the economics of collectively bargained fringe benefits packages. In every Metal Trades unit within DOE, defined benefit pension plans are the product of generations of negotiations—some with more than 50 years of history. Negotiated pension plans and other fringe benefits represent deferred wages that union members collectively elected to put into retirement and/or health care. Those pensions and health benefits belong to the workers and cannot be abrogated on the basis of some bureaucratic policy.

DOE is also ignoring another historic fact. Since the Manhattan Project in the middle of World War II, civilian contract personnel have provided the skills, dedication and expertise necessary for the nuclear program of the United States government. The current workforce is made up of second, and in some cases, third generation workers who perform dangerous and important work on behalf of the U.S. government. They are de facto employees of the Department of Energy, and the DOE has a responsibility to honor that relationship regardless of the administrative complexities that have evolved.

In 2009, the DOE argued that it is not engaged in or interfering with bargaining, but is merely “setting parameters within which contractors may negotiate.” At that time, they also maintained that companies could meet the limits established by 350.1 by instituting a “two-tier” benefit program, grandfathering current personnel and requiring new hires to join a defined contribution plan. DOE simply dismissed the argument that once the pipe line is closed off to new participants in a defined benefit plan, the plan quickly dies. Moreover, as GAO pointed out, any savings from substituting defined contribution plans in two-tier arrangements for defined benefit plans will not be realized for some 20 to 30 years when new hires are eligible for retirement.

The Metal Trades Department and its Atomic Labor Councils maintain that implementing this policy puts DOE alongside every contractor at the bargaining table. It constitutes impermissible interference in free collective bargaining by implementing a rule or regulation that takes away the DOE contractors discretion to bargain over a NLRB mandatory subject of bargaining.

The unionized personnel at DOE worksites affected by 350.1 constitute no more than 10 percent of the entire contractor workforce. The other 90 percent are unrepresented scientific, professional and management personnel.

The Metal Trades Department and the Atomic Trades Councils maintain that the bulk of the “excessive costs” associated with defined benefits plans among DOE contractors are directly attributable to contractor decisions to extend coverage for high level managers in these plans by fiat, often without any financial contribution as in effect “golden parachutes” for selected individuals.

In his May 20, 2005, report, DOE Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman criticized DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration after finding that NNSA had “incurred and will continue incurring costs that we consider to be unreasonable” because NNSA had approved the payment of 100 percent of the employer’s portion of post-retirement health benefits for Y-12 employees who transferred from the corporate offices of BWXT and Bechtel National, regardless of how long they worked in the department’s service. According to the IG, BWXT and Bechtel transferred some 200 corporate employees to Y-12 from 2000 to 2005. About 25 percent of these transferees had more than two years of corporate service and were, as a result, eligible for post-retirement health benefits, paid for by the government, resulting in costs of nearly $500,000 for currently retired contractor employees and a future liability of more than $7 million for DOE, for employees currently working at Y-12. The report recommended that DOE adopt a policy that ensures post-retirement benefits “are based solely on work performed for Department of Energy contract efforts.”

This practice is still widespread among corporate management officials employed by major contractors, not only for health benefits, but for pensions as well.

Why BenVal Surveys Doesn’t Work

After performing a Ben-Val study, a call for a corrective action plan was issued for the Pantex and Y-12 Plants by the DOE after Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS), was awarded a joint operating contract of the two facilities.

The contractor was required to perform a BenVal study to determine the average value of benefits packages at similar organizations. According to the Y-12 DOE run website, the BenVal study that was performed is proprietary and cannot be released. However, the NNSA did release the names of 27 organizations it says were used to assess the BenVal for Pantex and Y-12 employee benefits in 2013. Those organizations included Sprint Nextel, Goodyear Tire, Motorola Solutions, General Electric, DuPont and Boeing, just to name a few.

To use companies that are making mobile devices, tires, airplanes, and home appliances as “comparator” organizations is like comparing apples to grapefruit. Civilian employees at the Y-12 complex, fabricate and store weapons-grade uranium. These workers put their lives on the line and risk exposure to deadly chemicals in the name of national security. These employees have the highest risk of cancer of any profession and DOE wants to cut their health benefits. Why are they being forced to comply with Order 350.1 when Section 4-C of the Service Contract Act provides a waiver to accommodate good faith collective bargaining? The DOE can provide a reasonable remedy to this situation by incorporating the Section 4-C language within 350.1.

The Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, and Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, charged with maintaining the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. Pantex is responsible for nuclear weapons life extension programs; weapons dismantlement; development, testing, and fabrication of high explosives components; and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits. Y-12 is responsible for safe and secure uranium storage, processing, and manufacturing operations; supplying fuel for the U.S. Navy; and global non-proliferation.

The DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are well aware of the dangers these employees face. In 2000, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was enacted. The Act compensates current and former employees (or their survivors) of the DOE, its predecessor agencies, and certain of its vendor, contractors and subcontractors, who were diagnosed with a radiogenic cancer, chronic beryllium disease, beryllium sensitivity, or chronic silicosis, as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium, or silica while employed at covered facilities.

Under the Special Exception Cohort (SEC) clause of the EEOICPA, claimants can be compensated without the completion of a NIOSH radiation dose reconstruction or determination of the probability of causation. To qualify, an employee must have at least one of the 22 specified cancers and work for a specified period of time at one of the SEC worksites.

At Pantex, there have been 3,139 applications filed and $161,327,659 total compensation paid to individuals or their survivors. At the Y-12 Plant there have been more than 28,000 cases filed and more than a billion dollars paid in compensation and medical bills.

The fact that the DOE is requiring these plants to follow Order 350.1 is penny wise and pound foolish. Failure to adequately cover these employees now could cost the DOE millions or even billions down the road.

A 2008 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on the DOE costs and liabilities for contractors’ pensions and postretirement benefit plans examined the DOE’s use of 350.1 and pointed out that DOE “has not required several contractors to implement corrective action plans.” DOE has the ability to waive the compliance in the case of nuclear workers at these highly dangerous facilities.

The Metal Trades Department and the Atomic Trades Councils that represent these workers have assured both the contractors and the DOE that we are willing to sit down and meet them half way, addressing their cost concerns while sustaining adequate benefit packages. It’s time for the DOE to do the right thing and waive 350.1, they owe it to their employees who risk their lives everyday working with dangerous chemicals in the name of national security.

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June 3rd Call-In Day to De-Rail Fast Track!

From our friends at the IBB:

Ways & Means Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) is pushing to bring Fast Track legislation for the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to a vote in the House. Please call your representative on Wednesday, June 3rd, at 888-804-8311 and urge them to vote NO on Fast Track.

Representative Ryan’s Fast Track bill has already passed in the Senate, and if approved by the House, would allow secretive trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to be rushed through Congress, with devastating consequences for jobs and wages for America’s working families.

As written, the TPP would force working Americans to compete with horribly-abused sweatshop workers overseas in countries like Vietnam, where the minimum wage is less than 60 cents an hour, and in Malaysia, where up to a third of workers in the countries export-oriented electronics industry are forced laborers — a euphemism for modern-day slaves.

Granting a Fast Track rubber-stamp for the TPP would accelerate a global race to the bottom in wages and working conditions that nobody wins — except, of course, for big, transnational corporations that are eager to exploit labor abuses abroad to pad their obscene profits.

We need our elected officials looking out for us, not corporate elites. TAKE ACTION ON JUNE 3rd: please call your Congressperson at 888-804-8311 and urge them to vote NO on Fast Track.

The good news is that, together, we can win this fight. Literally thousands of organizations — representing the environmental, family farm, civil rights, consumer, Internet freedom, student and other movements — have united with labor in saying NO to Fast Track. We need your voice, too.

This really is the time for action. Fast Track proponents are trying to move quickly.