After its first effort fell short of its goal, Department of Energy cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth is reviving its voluntary separation program in hopes of finding 29 more workers ready to take early departure.
The decontamination and decommissioning contractor for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio in December first issued its offer in hopes of persuading 75 employees to take the early out. Forty-six employees accepted the voluntary separation offer and left the company effective Jan. 31.
On Monday, Fluor-BWXT said it would “reopen and extend” the offer until May 16. Employees accepted for participation this time around would leave on May 30.
The voluntary separation offers to both union and salaried employees are meant to help Fluor-BWXT realign its workforce of roughly 1,500 as it ramps down decontamination of the X-326 Building, one of three 30-acre facilities built in the 1950s to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. The vendor says the workforce reduction will allow it to align its skill mix with the remaining work, but that headcount will remain steady as new hires are brought on.
“I can’t discuss specific positions at this point but I can say that FBP is shifting primary focus from deactivation to also include demolition and remediation,” company spokesman Jack Williams said by email. Demolition of the X-326 Process Building is expected to start in July 2020.
The terms of the voluntary separation offer have not changed since December, Williams said. The buyout plan offered financial separation packages to different categories of employees based on their union or salaried status and years of service.
United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-689 President John Knauff said his organization remains opposed to the company’s handling of voluntary employee reductions. “We have contractual language for them to follow” on voluntary workforce reductions, he said by phone Monday. Knauff contends his union was not consulted in a meaningful way before the first leg of the voluntary severance was launched.
Knauff also questioned whether Fluor-BWXT has enough extra people to justify such a separation package.
The company has offered payouts to salaried staff, USW 689 members doing decontamination work, USW 689 members doing professional and technical work; and members of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America Local 66 Police at Portsmouth.
Fluor-BWXT has a 10-year DOE contract, valued at about $3. 7 billion, for demolishing and disposing of buildings, equipment, and ancillary facilities at Portsmouth. The company began work in March 2011 and began its final 30-month extension in September 2018.
