NS&D Monitor
10/9/2015
Lab Workers Approve New Contract
Unionized workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Wednesday ratified a new five-year labor contract, which includes pay raises in each of the years and a $1,000 signing bonus. Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, confirmed approval of the contract with UT-Battelle, the Department of Energy’s contractor manager for the site, but he declined to give specifics on the vote totals. The ATLC represents about 13 unions – totaling roughly 700 workers – at the Oak Ridge lab. The rank and file will receive annual pay increases of 3 percent, 3 percent, 2.7 percent, 2.7 percent, and 2.6 percent – totaling 14 percent over the life of the contract.
According to Jones, the new contract will take effect immediately. However, the first wage increase won’t be awarded until April 2016 – when the old contract was due to expire. A clause in the new labor agreement allows UT-Battelle a one-time opportunity to reopen negotiations on the health benefits package. Last weekend, unionized workers at the Pantex Plant in Texas also ratified a new agreement with the site’s managing contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security, following a strike that lasted over one month.
