ORNL Reaches Tentative Contract With Unions

UT-Battelle has reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract with unions representing about 700 hourly workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Steve Jones, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, an umbrella labor group that negotiated on behalf of 13 unions at ORNL, confirmed the tentative deal. Jones said the union leadership has recommended ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement during the Oct. 7 vote. “We think it’s a good deal for our membership,” Jones said, but he declined to discuss details of the new contract until the vote.

UT-Battelle, a partnership of the University of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute, has managed ORNL for the Department of Energy since 2000. Lab spokesman David Keim confirmed the tentative agreement but declined further comment. The two parties negotiated the contract over the past couple weeks after UT-Battelle approached the labor group about getting an early start on negotiations. The existing contract isn’t due to expire until April 1, 2016. ATLC also represents unions at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Talks on a new labor agreement at Y-12 have been put on hold while Consolidated Nuclear Security – which manages Y-12 for the National Nuclear Security Administration – attempts to reach an agreement with striking workers at the Pantex Plant in Texas. About 1,100 workers represented by the Metal Trades Council at Pantex have been on strike since late August.