Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
12/4/2015
Hourly workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex approved a new five-year collective bargaining agreement on Thursday, concluding four weeks of negotiations on a positive note for the workforce and the government’s managing contractor for the nuclear weapons facility, Consolidated Nuclear Security.
The ratified agreement will provide about 1,100 union workers at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., plant with an annual pay raise of 3 percent over the course of the five-year contract, and all of the workers will receive a one-time bonus of $2,500.
Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, confirmed the approval of the new contract, but he declined to provide the voting totals. About 90 percent of the union membership participated in the vote, Jones said. The contract will take effect on Tuesday.
The ATLC, an umbrella labor organization that represents 13 unions at Y-12, negotiated the new contract with Consolidated Nuclear Security, a Bechtel-led contractor team that took over management of Y-12 and its sister plant, Pantex, on July 1, 2014.
“CNS management is pleased that negotiations led to a labor agreement that provides stability to the workforce and recognizes the ATLC membership’s important contributions to Y-12 and national security,” the contractor said in a statement.
The contractor’s first and a half on the job has provided a number of challenges in labor management.
Members of the Metal Trades Council at Pantex finally approved a contract offer from CNS in early October, but only after months of negotiations and a five-week strike at the Texas plant that is the nation’s center for assembling and disassembling nuclear warheads. The heated Pantex labor situation delayed contract talks at Y-12. However, negotiating benchmarks established during the CNS talks with the Metal Trades Council may have ultimately helped the Oak Ridge union leaders in their efforts to secure the best possible contract for Y-12 workers.
The new Y-12 contract will require sacrifices from the union workers, including higher contributions on pensions and health benefits packages, but some Oak Ridge workers indicated the losses were not as great an anticipated.
The leadership of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council and the ATLC’s negotiating committee, which includes representatives from each of the 13 unions, had recommended approval of the new contract at Y-12.
