What a difference five years can make. The wage increases are modest and there will be no boost to the retirement accounts of Pantex protective force workers, but Pantex Guards Union President Frank White deemed negotiations on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement a success after the guards union at the site wrapped up a smooth round of talks to stave off a strike. Approximately 90 percent of the union’s membership ratified the agreement, which includes annual wage increases of 2.5 percent and no change to retirement compensation. Union workers also received a 15-cent raise to their differential for night wages, and kept a provision allowing workers to do physical training during long work shifts. “Anytime you negotiate nowadays if you’re able to keep what you have, you’re succeeding,” White told NW&M Monitor yesterday. “Especially with these economic times we succeeded in getting a good contract because we stayed ahead, maybe not greatly, but we at least kept our head above water.”
White said that negotiations this time around with contractor B&W Pantex were markedly different than five years ago, when the guards went on strike for 44 days over retirement, benefits and career longevity issues. This time around, union members ratified the new contract more than two weeks before the previous deal expired June 10. “It was just definitely a lot better atmosphere this time than we had last time obviously,” White said. “We truly felt like we were negotiating.” One of the biggest hurdles was a change to the medical benefits for union workers. When B&W Pantex tried to increase the union members’ share of medical insurance premiums to 20 percent five years ago, the issue helped lead to the strike and the sides ultimately settled on 15 percent phased in over five years. This time, the union fought an increase in premiums to 20 percent to be phased over five years. “This time we were able to achieve the step increase without having to strike for it,” White said. “That’s a big deal because you have to have those step increases, especially if you’re talking about modest raises, because if you have too big of increase on your insurance that’ll eat into whatever raise you’re given.”