Why organize at LLNL?

Interested in getting a real voice in your workplace?

The switch to a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) like LANS at Los Alamos National Laboratory threatens to force changes in the terms and conditions of employment that we have enjoyed under UC since the Lab's inception. The changes include:

— future job security and wages tied to the fortunes and whims of a private company

— forced conversion of our defined benefit (pension) retirement accounts

— arbitrary changes to our health benefits

— loss of our right due process in disciplinary actions, such as demotion or dismissal, i.e., "At-Will" employment for all current career-indefinite employees--a major shift

Getting collective bargaining is the best way to preserve the working conditions that you and your co-workers have experienced since becoming Lab employees. With collective bargaining, you have the legal right to bargain over your pay, benefits, employment security, health and safety, and retirement, etc. It also gives you the ability to negotiate over company policies that affect promotions, job bidding, layoffs, and many other aspects of your job.

Having a union and the right to bargain collectively with your employer is not some old-fashioned idea that’s time has come and gone. Top executives of every major corporation negotiate their own compensation, retirement and severance packages with the companies for which they work. As a matter of fact, former LLNL Director Michael Anastasio negotiated his own employment terms with LANS that guaranteed conditions and the equivalent of his UCRP pension.

With collective bargaining, you and your co-workers will have the same ability to improve your working conditions. To succeed we need you to sign the authorization card.

Jim Wolford, Computations Staff Member, SPSE-UPTE President