Tri-Lab Joint Statement March 19th, 2003

The Union of Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE/CWA Local 9119) at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the UPTE affiliate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) the Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers (SPSE) announce conditions for their support for the University of California (UC) management of their laboratories.

The three organizations acknowledge that the alleged credit card and government property fraud at Los Alamos, along with allegations of LANL management cover-up as a result of the firing of two investigators, have created a crisis of confidence in the ability of the University of California to manage the Laboratories. Efforts at reform of the business practices at the Laboratories have begun by both UC and by the Laboratories' management.

The organizations maintain that these events have highlighted needs for reform at the Laboratories that they have long advocated. The best way to prevent the recurrence of this kind of problem in the future is for the Laboratories' management, the University, and DOE to take seriously their duty to protect, rather than persecute, laboratory employees who dare to point out wrongdoing when they see it.

Other reforms still needed include:

1. End the Retaliation against Laboratory Employees
Too often employees at the UC Laboratories fear to speak the truth at work because they have witnessed how Laboratory managers are able to retaliate against anyone who is noncompliant. Workers see the following symptoms of retaliation daily:
*Employees who speak out being laid off because of orchestrated budget short falls
*Harassment of employees that creates a hostile work environment
*Subjective Performance Appraisals that reward cronyism and punish dissenters
*Stagnate career paths
*Lack of diversity, especially in the managerial ranks

2. End the Discrimination
The UC Laboratories are missing an opportunity to diversify and enrich their workforce by underutilizing minorities and women.
*The Government Accounting Office (GAO) report of April 2002 concludes that employees at the laboratories have been discriminated against because of their gender and ethnicity. There are documented pay inequities between female and male employees as well as minorities and white males.

3. Scrap the Merit Pay Systems
The so-called merit pay systems at the UC Labs haves little objective criteria to judge performance or merit. Salaries are determined subjectively with no link to performance or any other predictable measure. It thus leads to rewarding the compliant and punishing the dissenters.

4. Institute Uniform Employee Policies and Procedures that address best business practices
The three UC Labs all have different employee policies and procedures. This leads to inconsistencies and unfairness though they all have the same employer, the same customer (Department of Energy), and perform similar work. The three Labs should use the best terms and conditions of employment and apply them to all the Labs.

5. Worker Safety
Safety is too often compromised at the Labs nuclear facilities. Safety violations continue while employees fear to report safety problems because they witness how supervisors retaliate against others who have done so in the past.

6. End the Department of Energy covering all legal costs for fighting employee lawsuits
The UC Labs fight their own employees in lawsuits endlessly until the employee goes broke, gives up, or dies. This happens regardless of the merit of the case. This practice is a means to intimidate employees from seeking legal redress in the judicial system. The UC contract must end this practice so worker justice can prevail when so decided by the courts. We note that one glaring exception to this practice was the recent golden parachutes offered deposed managers in the latest scandals.

For more information contact:
UPTE-Los Alamos: Theresa Gonzales Connaughton, Phone (505) 989 8337, email: tconnaughton@hotmail.com

UPTE-Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:

UPTE/SPSE-Livermore: Sue Byars, Phone (925) 337-0770, email: suebyars@attbi.com or contact SPSE, Phone (925) 449-4846, email: spse@spse.org

UPTE President: Jelger Kalmijn, pager (619) 406-2327, email: fueradelinea@igc.apc.org,

UPTE Statewide Organizing Director: Olga L. Miranda, Phone (510)378-1588,
e-mail: uptexicana@upte.xohost.com