Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
4/17/2015
Union-represented workers at the Pantex Plant are eyeing a possible strike over medical, sick leave and other benefits, but union officials remain in negotiations with contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security. Clarence Rashada, president of the Metal Trades Council, said the council, a 10-union coalition that represents roughly 1,200 Pantex workers, held a weekend rally to inform its workers of a possible strike if a five-year pact isn’t reached with CNS. Rashada said this week that the union already is pursuing ways to obtain health insurance for its members if they vote to strike against CNS.
Union members, he said, are concerned about having to bear increasing costs for prescription drugs. “If we go out on strike, the reason that we would is the benefits,” Rashada said, citing cuts in benefits to Pantex workers who are not members of the union. “It’s sick leave, medical benefits and prescription drugs. … If we’ve got to pay a little higher co-pay and a little higher in regard to premium, that’s negotiable.”
The union, he said, is still awaiting a best and final offer from CNS to present to Metal Trades Council workers, who would have to ratify a proposal. “If they don’t change their tune on the medical, sick leave and the prescription drugs, yes, the people made it very clear they are not going to go for that,” Rashada said of the likelihood that union members would strike.
CNS ‘Hopeful’ of ‘Positive Conclusion’
Consolidated Nuclear Security issued a statement early this week that said negotiations have been progressing since they began Jan. 21, but that it will not release details of its proposal until union members have received it. “Consolidated Nuclear Security Pantex is working with the Metal Trades Council negotiating team to develop a fair and reasonable contract for represented employees,” CNS spokesman Jason Bohne said. “… CNS Pantex is hopeful that the negotiations will come to a positive conclusion with a ratification vote for the proposed contract. CNS Pantex believes it is important for the MTC leadership to present information about the proposed contract to its members. Therefore, CNS Pantex will not provide proposal details to the media until after MTC members have been informed and voted.”
Both sides agreed to extend talks beyond a February deadline when the union’s contract was set to expire. Pantex employs about 3,000 workers. The Pantex Guards Union now plans to assist the Metal Trades Council members in the event of a strike, Rashada said. “The PGU, the Pantex Guards Union, is setting up a food bank for us just like we did for them when they were on strike,” Rashada said.
The Metal Trades Council, chartered in 1951, has represented Pantex’s production and maintenance workers for decades and has added radiation technicians to the council, according to information from the council’s website. Consolidated Nuclear Security took over management and operations at Pantex and the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Complex on July 1. The last time workers with the Metal Trades Council engaged in a labor strike at Pantex was in 1970 when about 880 workers were on strike for 26 days before a pact was reached. In 2007, about 500 members of the Pantex Guards Union engaged in a strike at Pantex for about six weeks until an agreement was reached.
