Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
10/9/2015
With the strike at the Pantex Plant settled, Consolidated Nuclear Security will now join the Atomic Trades and Labor Council at the negotiating table in an effort to work out a new long-term labor contract for crafts workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons facility.
CNS manages both Y-12 and Pantex for the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Y-12 talks have been postponed for months while the federal contractor tried to work out a new labor deal with the Metal Trades Council at Pantex. Those talks, which received help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, recently concluded with ratification of a four-year collective bargaining agreement.
Steve Jones, the president of the ATLC who recently negotiated a new contract for hourly workers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said he would like to get at least a five-year contract for the Y-12 rank and file. “I think that’s attainable,” he said.
The ATLC represents 13 unions at the Tennessee site, covering about 1,100 workers.
CNS communication chief Jason Bohne said the contractor team headed by Bechtel is working with the ATLC leadership to make “the necessary preparations for a successful contract negotiation that results in a fair and equitable agreement.”
“Formal negotiations will begin later this month at a mutually agreed-upon date,” Bohne said in an email response to questions.
Jones said he is optimistic about getting a good contract. He said he met earlier this week with the ATLC negotiating team to discuss strategy and make preparations. He said the Y-12 workers have been patient during the lengthy wait. After agreeing to an extension of the existing contract earlier this summer, each of the Y-12 workers received a check for $1,250 to compensate them for the wait and the possible loss of wages due to the delayed negotiations.
The Oak Ridge team has studied the newly negotiated agreement at Pantex, but Jones said there are basic differences between the Y-12 and Pantex contracts. Therefore, the negotiations and the issues won’t be the same, he said.
Although no firm date has been set, Jones indicated that Oct. 19 is a likely date for the start of negotiations on a new Y-12 contract.
