CNS, Union Agree to Extend Contract Talks
NS&D Monitor
2/13/2015
The Metal Trades Council and Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security have agreed to continue talks past a Feb. 16 deadline when the union’s contract was set to expire, but both sides aren’t talking about issues involved in the discussions. “Consolidated Nuclear Security and the Metal Trades Council will continue negotiating a new labor agreement. In the meantime, Pantex workers represented by the Metal Trades Council will continue work under the provisions of the current labor agreement beyond Feb. 16,” George Rangel, a spokesman for Consolidated Nuclear Security, said late this week. “Consolidated Nuclear Security and the Metal Trades Council have mutually agreed to a continuation of negotiations as negotiations thus far have been productive, and we remain optimistic that we will reach an agreement with the union.”
Rangel said work at Pantex hasn’t been affected by the ongoing negotiations and that no new contract negotiation deadline has been set. “In the meantime, while this is continuing, we are going to continue to maintain our high standards of safety and security to protect our mission, the workforce, the neighboring communities and the environment. We are also continuing to focus on the daily absolutes and priorities of safety, security, quality, mission delivery and cost efficiency,” Rangel said. Metal Trades Council President Clarence Rashada said the talks have just started and that he could not discuss the issues involved in the negotiations. “We’re just getting started and we don’t have anything to say right now,” he said.
New Contract Would Cover Approx. 1,100 Workers
The union and the contractor are negotiating a new five-year contract for Pantex workers representing by Metal Trades Council, the bargaining agent for 10 local unions for about 1,100 workers at Pantex, which employs about 3,000 people. The Metal Trades Council, chartered in 1951, has represented Pantex’s production and maintenance workers and maintenance employees for decades and has added radiation technicians to the council, according to information from the council’s website. Union stewards are elected by their peers. Officers and negotiation team members are elected from a pool of delegates. Each local union has at a minimum two votes to cast in elections or roll call votes.
Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC took over management and operations at Pantex and the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Complex on July 1. Its team includes Bechtel National Inc., Lockheed Martin, ATK Launch Services and SOC, with Booz Allen Hamilton as a member of the subcontracting team. The last time workers with the Metal Trades Council engaged in a labor strike at Pantex was in the 1970s when workers were on strike for 26 days before a pact was reached.
