The SPSE Testimony given at CA Senate Select Committee

by Sue Byars

Thank you for this opportunity to speak at the California Senate Select Committee on Oversight for the Department of Energy Laboratories operated by the University of California.

My name is Sue Byars. I have been a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employee for 23 years. I am a Site Planner for the Site 300 Explosives Test Site. I am here today to speak both as a Livermore Lab employee and as the President of the Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers, commonly known as SPSE, a labor union at LLNL that is affiliated with the University Professional and Technical Employees Communications Workers of America Local 9119, in the AFL-CIO.

I, along with the majority of our members, have listened in amazement to the news accounts over the past months reporting fraud and abuse at Los Alamos and the Lawrence Livermore National laboratories and the controversy over the University of California's management. Not only should the managers and employees who commit wrong doing be brought to justice, but the processes that allowed the wrongdoing clearly need to be fixed.

SPSE supports the progress underway in reform of Laboratory business practices, and believes that UC is in the best position to make needed changes not only within the UC system, but also in the local laboratory management, as well as Department of Energy management. SPSE fears that terminating the current UC contract at this time will only worsen the problems our employees face. Our employees fear losing their benefits, their rights under state laws as UC employees, and losing the University based culture of scientific creativity, independence and scholarship.

However, our support of continuing the UC contract at this time also brings demands for reform. SPSE has long advocated reform of Lab management. We believe that the current situation is the resulting legacy of years of lack of accountability of managers for their decisions. SPSE has watched and reported laboratory mismanagement and the silencing of would-be whistleblowers. SPSE has demanded and worked for improved labor/management relationships. However, we still believe that the best way to prevent problems of fraud and abuse is to have UC, the local laboratory management and DOE take seriously their duty to protect, rather than persecute, laboratory employees who dare to point out wrongdoing when they see it.

Lee McVey and David Lappa are members of SPSE who reported fraud and abuse through the proper channels, and were retaliated against by LLNL management and forced from their jobs. I and other SPSE members have both witnessed and suffered from lab management's abuse of power and their coercion of employees to prevent them from speaking out and reporting wrongdoing.

This coercion comes in many forms. Our salaries are determined by subjective ranking by the same management we may be speaking out against, rather than our salaries being based on our performance. The result? Employees who maintain silence out of fear that if they speak out ­ they will receive lower pay raises. The loss of job opportunities, of no longer being in the pipeline for promotions and other opportunities. The day in, day out character assassination, and humiliation of being shunned by management and fellow employees. And the fear of becoming an Employee Between Assignments, an EBA, someone who appears to lose their employee rights and are forced to leave the laboratory.

SPSE backs continuation of the UC Contract during this time of scrutiny and promised reform. We also have demanded much needed reform from our local lab management.

We have asked for:

* Strengthened reinforcement of whistleblower protections. The laws on the books appear to be adequate, they merely need to be enforced. And additionally, retaliation against employees who may not be qualified as whistleblowers, but who speak out on problems needs to be stopped. Local processes need to be established to protect all employees who report wrongdoing.

*That the Laboratories and the University should hold its individual managers accountable in cases of fiscal or employment abuse.

*End the practice of covering all legal costs of the laboratories and the University in defending against employee claims of retaliation and discrimination.

*Improve labor-management relations. We ask you to work with SPSE to improve the working environment at LLNL.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you, both as a Livermore lab employee and representing the members of SPSE.

UPTE Los Alamos Testimony given at CA Senate Select Committee
Manuel Trujillo

Madam Chair and members of the Committee: My name is Manuel Trujillo. I have been a Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 18 years. I am a Project Engineer in the Project Management Division. Board Member of University Professional and Technical Employees Communications Workers of America Local 9119, in the AFL-CIO (UPTE), I am also President of Citizens for LANL Employee Rights (CLER) and Board Member of the Hispanic Round Table of New Mexico (HRT).

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee today to address the Management/Employee relation's problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory. What I have to say may not be pleasant to hear but it needs to be said if we truly want to make positive changes. I would like to quote a powerful sentence from a dear and respected person. He used to tell me, "He who does not hear does not understand and without understanding there is no progress". This person was my grandfather.

The Laboratory has been plagued by a series of scandals over the past eight years. Starting with the 1995 Reduction in Force (RIF), the missing security tapes, the Wen-Ho Lee case leading up to the current fraud waste and abuse and alleged cover up. As a consequence, we are now in jeopardy of losing our much-valued relationship with the University of California.

For years we have been vocal that the placement of the Audits & Assessments Division be under the Office of The President. This along with the current systems in reform of Laboratory business practices is finally occurring. Although the University has taken steps to address the management failures at LANL stemming from the misuse and criminal activities within the purchase card system, missing laboratory property, and reprisal of "Whistleblowers" (Mr. Walp & Mr. Doran) there is still much to be done at LANL. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Today much of the energy has so far been focused on short-term activities such as lobbying, petitioning, jawboning and swamp draining. LANL should have taken positive steps to fundamentally alter the negative aspects of Lab culture that have made us such a fertile ground for scandal. It is clear that the purpose of draining the swamp is to get rid of the alligators and cottonmouths, but that did not occur. Those same alligators and cottonmouths just moved to another swamp and continue to thrive. If the intent was to send a strong message supporting meaningful change of a systemic and pestilent culture, recent changes did not do it. This is the fundamental reason (lack of meaningful action) is why UC/LANL are in this embarrassing situation.

I am here today as an UPTE representative to garner support for the UC contract which the majority of Lab employees want. However, our support of continuing the UC contract at this time also brings demands for CONTRACT REFORM. UPTE has long advocated reform of lab management practices. We believe that the current situation is the resulting legacy of UC being an absentee landlord; a landlord condoned and perpetuated a lack of accountability, denial, arrogance and created an environment where managers lacked moral and ethical values. Our members have witnessed waste, fraud and abuse first hand. Instead of inviting employees to report such actions and then honor them for their courage, employees have been ignored in the best of circumstances, and punished through retaliatory actions in the worst of circumstances.

While the focus has been on fraud waste and abuse concerning business practices nothing has been said or asked concerning the abuse employees have and currently receive at the hands of unethical managers. Time and time again we find ourselves in very serious trouble because our laboratory system protects all managers regardless of their level of integrity. We have been watchful and have reported laboratory mismanagement and the continual silencing of would-be "Whistleblowers"

I, myself suffered reprisal, blacklisting, fear and intimidation. This finally led to me being RIF'ed along with many others in 1995. I am not the only one, there are countless others who have reported and documented wrong-doing or who have been supportive of whistleblowers. As a result they have suffered retaliation and coercion. Coercion comes in many shapes and forms for example; loss of job opportunities/career path, lower salaries based on subjective job performance, character assassination, humiliation, isolation, blacklisting and ultimately the filing of a grievance which normally leads to costly litigation where the Lab is graciously supported by a bottomless pit of money. Everybody knows the Golden Rule "He who has the gold rules" is very appropriate when it comes to the Lab.

Currently we see the University bringing its full resources to bear on the problems that have surfaced. Therefore UPTE challenges UC to bring forth its resources as well to address what we have asked for in the past and again today:

* Strengthening of whistleblower protection with systems set in place to monitor their effectiveness
* Accountability of fiscal and employment abuse
* Ending the practice of the DOE covering all legal costs in defending employee claims of retaliation and discrimination
* Improving labor-management relations
* Permanently address pay equity issues
* Increase diversity of staff in all job categories
* End the so-called merit pay system by replacing it with a transparent cost-of-living with merit increases on top of that
* Improve safety issues at our Nuclear facilities by implementing the Quality Assurance requirements addressing the Price Anderson Amendment Act
* End the erosion of benefits in the medical insurance plan
* Address the issues of pay disparity raised in the GAO report on diversity at the Weapons Labs.

Although UC/LANL has demonstrated resistance of UPTE having a presence at the laboratories UPTE is still supportive of the UC contract because employees fought hard to gain collective bargaining rights, which were first granted to us only in 2000. Under another contractor it would be regressive for employees to lose the only edge they have in asserting their rights. We strongly believe that UPTE along with UC can be instrumental in making this a win win situation.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you, both as a LANL employee and a representative of UPTE.