The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) has reached a tentative deal for one-year extensions to existing labor contracts for hundreds of union members employed by major vendors at the U.S. Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
In a Facebook post Monday, HAMTC announced that its negotiating committee had reached the agreement with contractors Mission Support Alliance, Washington River Protection Solutions, CH2M, and Veolia.
The one-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreements between HAMTC and each company makes no big changes to existing deals except for a 2.5% pay raise on Nov. 10 for all covered personnel. The tentative deal, which still must be voted upon by the represented union members, was reached after a week of talks, according to the announcement.
The vote is scheduled for Nov. 6, a union official said Thursday.
“Informational meetings will be scheduled in the near future,” HATMC said in its announcement. The news was reported Monday night by the Tri-City Herald newspaper.
Between 2,500 and 2,800 union members are covered by the agreement, HAMTC President Jeffrey McDaniel said by phone Tuesday. The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council is an umbrella group that handles contract negotiation for 14 metal trade unions that represent workers involved in maintenance-related work at Hanford. The group is part of the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
Leidos and Centerra Group comprise MSA, which provides essential services and infrastructure support throughout the site. AECOM and Atkins make up WRPS, which manages storage of 56 million gallons of radioactive waste inside 177 underground tanks. Veolia tests waste samples and provides analytical services at the 222-S Laboratory. CH2M is the contractor for environmental remediation of Hanford’s Central Plateau, including demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant.
Not included in this vote are union workers building the Waste Treatment Plant, which will convert millions of gallons of radioactive waste into a glass form for disposal. That is a construction contract with workers represented by Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598.
