Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
8/28/2015
The International Guards Union of America (IGUA) has named Gene Lente acting president after former President Randy Lawson resigned on Monday to work for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), NS&D Monitor learned this week. “I interviewed and was offered a position with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,” Lawson said Wednesday by email. “It was a great opportunity I could not refuse. I have been on the executive board of the IGUA since 1996 and it was time to allow someone else to move forward.” FMCS is an independent arm of the U.S. government that provides arbitration and mediation services to industry, community, and government agencies worldwide. IGUA represents security personnel at several DOE and NNSA sites, including the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos national laboratories.
With his resignation, Lawson closed out an eight-year tenure as IGUA’s general president, also serving from 1998 to 2012 as president of IGUA Local No. 3 (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), and after serving a tenure as vice president of IGUA International Region 10 (headquartered in Oak Ridge) that started in 1996. Lawson served a total of 31 years in IGUA, he said. Lawson also served from 2011 to 2015 as president of the National Council of Security Police (NCSP), which IGUA created to streamline communication between DOE/ NNSA guards and the agencies themselves. The group consists of international and independent unions that represent security personnel employed to protect DOE and NNSA facilities, and it undertakes legislative programs, lobbying efforts, and committee representation for DOE security police officers.
Lente steps into the position after serving as vice president of IGUA Region 6, which encompasses the Los Alamos National Laboratory, among other locations. He will serve as acting president until the union’s next national convention in 2017. “Randy instilled a lot in us, and we’re going to continue on with his beliefs,” Lente said in a phone interview with NS&D Monitor on Wednesday. Lente commended Lawson for developing strong relationships with DOE and NNSA, and said he hopes to help grow the union even more in the future. “What we’re going to try to do is actively recruit to the IGUA, and try to get back the people that we have lost, and also to continue the working relationship with DOE and NNSA,” Lente said. “That’s basically it. Of course, protecting our guys, and being there for them as much as possible.”
Lente mentioned the Pantex Plant as a site that he would focus on rebuilding connections with, after employees at the site dropped IGUA more than 10 years ago, he said. The Pantex Guards Union currently represents Pantex security personnel. Pantex was a major source of IGUA membership, Lente said. Numbers were not immediately available. One way to bring Pantex back under IGUA could be to make connections with Pantex guards through the NCSP, which Pantex is actively involved with, Lente said. IGUA is still largely connected with NCSP, as the body welcomes all DOE and NNSA security guards.
