Hanford Guards Union Local 21 has asked a federal district court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Department of Energy and its Leidos-led landlord contractor for the Hanford Site in Washington state, and lift the lockout in place since Nov. 27.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) said contract talks continued through the weekend and progress is being made.
Since Nov. 26, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS), has taken dogs from unionized K-9 officers and refused another two-week contract extension from the Hanford Guards Union although “[T]o date, the union bargaining team has not actually called for a strike,” according to the Dec. 20 complaint filed in the Eastern District of Washington.
No ruling on the union motion was posted online as of early Monday. HMIS declined comment on the legal case.
In addition to HMIS, DOE and DOE’ Hanford Site manager, Brian Vance, are also listed as defendants in the legal action by the union. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian has been assigned to the case.
On Dec. 16, Hanford Guards Union member Manuel Rodriguez was informed his clearance had been terminated by DOE “due to the HGU lockout,” according to the union complaint. “The lockout is completely beyond Mr. Rodriguez’s control,” the guards union said in an affidavit signed by Local 21 President Chris Hall.
Hanford Guards Union members “will be irreparably harmed by HMIS’ lockout,” Hall goes on to say in the court filing. “No amount of financial relief will make up for permanent disqualification from future employment with clearance requirements.”
The union and HMIS opened contract talks this past summer and the current three-year agreement expired Nov. 1. Since then, federal mediator Myla Hite has been involved in the effort to reach a new contract agreement, Hall said in the filing. On Nov. 20, the head of the HMIS bargaining team said the parties had reached an impasse, although the union negotiating team disagreed.
The employer’s “bad faith bargaining tactics are the subject of an unfair labor practice charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board” on Dec. 12, Hall said.
“Contract talks have continued through the weekend,” an HMIS spokesperson said by email to Exchange Monitor on Monday. “Over the weekend HMIS and HGU reached a tentative agreement on another article of the contract regarding the arbitration process. We will continue negotiating in good faith in hopes of reaching an agreement.”
HMIS has previously said it cannot modify DOE requirements on monitoring of security personnel private lives.
