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.

# # #

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.

Pantex union chief: vote was ‘overwhelming’

From Knoxblogs.com

By Frank Munger

Clarence Rashada, president of the Metal Trades Council at Pantex, said the vote to reject Consolidated Nuclear Security’s contract proposal was “overwhelming.” He declined to release the vote numbers.

According to Rashada, union workers were particularly unhappy with proposed changes in medical benefits, sick leave and pensions, and how they’re administered.

Read the Full Article

The Invisible Party at the Table: The Detrimental Effect of the DOE's Benefit Policy on Collective Bargaining at the Hanford Nuclear Cleanup Site

DOE is the original “Go-Co”…Government owned, contractor operated agency within
the federal government. As such the work of DOE and its predecessors is almost exclusively
performed by contractors and has been since the middle of World War II during the development
of the Manhattan Project. DOE is the customer and as such sets the standards of the contracts
and administration of these contracts. DOE is the defacto employer of the contractor workforce.
DOE awards contracts based on Requests for Proposals that are developed and written by DOE.
The reimbursements that are allowable under the terms of the DOE contracts sets the limits as to
what the contractors will negotiate with the unions that represents their workers. When the DOE
says they are not involved in negotiations with the unions for the workers at DOE sites, what
they are not saying is that they set the limits on what the contractors can get paid for. DOE
incentivizes contractors’ awards by reimbursements and bonuses for costs avoidances and
reductions in costs, knowing full well these terms dramatically affect the scope and the terms of
the negotiations between labor unions and the contractors.

Read the Metal Trades Department White Paper linked below.
Download:
White Paper