Unionized workers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant will vote Thursday on whether to approve a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with site manager Consolidated Nuclear Security.
Atomic Trades and Labor Council President Steve Jones confirmed Tuesday that a tentative agreement had been reached after a month of negotiations with CNS. But he declined to discuss details of the proposal until after the ratification vote.
The ATLC, an umbrella labor organization, represents 13 unions and about 1,100 hourly workers at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., facility. Union leaders have recommended workers approve the proposed contract.
CNS posted a statement about the tentative agreement on the internal website at Y-12 but did not provide details or comment on the outcome.
This is the Atomic Trades and Labor Council’s first contract negotiation with CNS, which took over management responsibility of both the Y-12 and Pantex nuclear weapons plants under a combined contract on July 1, 2014.
Workers at Pantex ended a five-week strike in early October after ratifying a second “best-and-final” contract offer from CNS.
The lengthy negotiations and the strike by union workers at Pantex resulted in a delayed start of contract negotiations in Oak Ridge, and CNS earlier this fall provided unionized workers at Y-12 with a $1,250 check to compensate them for the delays and the possible loss of wages during the waiting period.
“We worked really hard for four weeks,” Jones said. “We passed quite a few proposals back and forth across the table. There were some hard issues that we worked through. We didn’t agree on everything.”
If approved by the rank and file at Y-12, the new five-year contract will take effect on Dec. 8.
