While House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) yesterday declined to suggest potential solutions for the impasse in labor contract negotiations between the unionized general workforce of his district’s Pantex Plant and site management contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, the lawmaker said he hopes the parties swiftly hammer out a deal so the U.S. can maintain credible nonproliferation and nuclear weapons programs. “I certainly do not get involved in the negotiations, and I frankly have no idea, and have not wanted to know, what the points of contention are during the negotiations,” Thornberry said during a press gaggle on Capitol Hill. “Now my bottom line is I hope that it’s resolved quickly because it’s the only place in the country that assembles and disassembles nuclear weapons. It provides surveillance over our stockpile, and it’s a key asset for the country.”
Today marks Day 12 of the strike involving about one-third of Pantex’s 3,000-person total workforce. The last collective bargaining agreement for unionized Pantex workers represented by the Metal Trades Council (MTC) expired at midnight Aug. 29, and followed an Aug. 27 vote in which 87 percent of represented workers rejected CNS’ “best and revised final offer.” The employees were unhappy with a CNS labor contract proposal that would have reduced benefits such as sick leave, medical coverage, and pensions. The refusal followed more than seven months of contract negotiations and the union’s dismissal of CNS’ original “best and final offer” in early August. MTC and CNS representatives have met since the last vote, but remain at an impasse, according to a press release from the union, and MTC President Clarence Rashada last week said negotiators could need until late this month to settle on a deal.
