LLNL withholds UC notifications from Lab employees!

SPSE takes legal action.

What are the facts?

UC Initiatives:

• August 25, 1994: UC distributes a memo to the heads of all UC campuses, including the directors of the National Laboratories. This memo contains proposed changes to the UC's personnel policies and procedures.
  
  The memo specifically requests, "...that you engage in extensive consultation on this proposal through all appropriate means - employee meetings and open forums, focus groups...newsletters, and other communication - in order to elicit employee comments, suggestions, and ideas."
  
  
• October 6, 1995: UC disseminates the proposed personnel polices for formal review to the same heads of campuses and the laboratory directors. It states, "As this is a formal review, employees and employee organizations should be given the opportunity to comment."
  
  UC withdraws "Term Appointment" proposal because of employee comments.
  
  
• July 1, 1996: UC implements its new personnel policies for all campuses.
  
  
• Sept. 15, 1997: The Regents of the UC declare, "preservation of the academic atmosphere at the Laboratories" is a cornerstone of the UC/DOE contract. They state:
  
  "Key to this atmosphere is the continued linkage between UC's comprehensive personnel policies and procedures and personnel policies applicable to Laboratory employees."

Senior Management at LLNL withholds these UC notifications from LLNL employees.

LLNL Changes:

• January 1996: LLNL replaces our seniority-based layoff policy for 200-series employees with one based on "skills, knowledge, and abilities" to be revealed at the time of the layoff.
• May 1997: LLNL implements a whole slew of changes to our personnel polices and procedures.
• August 1997: LLNL proposes a new "Restricted-Status" employment category; essentially, "Terms without rights."

None of the Lab's changes ever refer to the UC initiatives.

But wait a minute--aren't we UC employees?

SPSE Responses:

• July 30, 1996: SPSE has a "Meet and Discuss" with Robert Perko of Human Resources, in which he said:

"LLNL has never operated under UC personnel policies."

• October 1996: SPSE files an "Unfair Labor Practice" charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against the UC. SPSE challenges our employer, the UC, to enforce continued linkage to their personnel policies at the LLNL campus.

Where is LLNL heading?

In the past, LLNL-specific modifications to the personnel policies were linked to the UC's policies. Now, Senior Management at LLNL is trying to abandon this metric. They want to change LLNL from the UC model of a public sector enterprise in service to the nation, to one of a private enterprise in service to themselves.

This change defines the "people stuff" that Director Tarter really has his sights on. Hard-earned protections for all employees will be lost in the shuffle unless individuals speak out.

Public Opinion Counts

Don't be silent! Express your concerns to the LLNL Director, the UC President's Office, and your elected representatives. (Some addresses are posted on the reverse of this page and more are on our web site.) We encourage you to share your thoughts and letters with SPSE.

Finally, support and/or join SPSE's fight to keep basic UC rights for all employees at LLNL.

For ongoing developments, contact us at the SPSE office: (510) 449-4846, or send e-mail to spse@spse.org. Full text of the above UC-memos, as well as other relevant information is being installed on our web page http://www.spse.org.

Send your letters to:

Bruce Tarter Director LLNL L-001 P.O. Box 808 Livermore, CA 94551 (510) 422-4169 tarter@llnl.gov

Richard Atkinson UC President 300 Lakeside Dr., 22nd Floor Oakland, CA 94612-3550 (510) 987-9074 Fax: (510) 987-9086 Richard.Atkinson@ucop.edu

Ellen Tauscher House of Representatives 100 Civic Plaza Dublin, CA 94549 (510) 829-0813 Fax: (510) 932-8159 ellen.tauscher@mail.house.gov

December 1997

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