Reports out of Amarillo indicate that the Pantex strike so far has been peaceful, but spirited, with no signs yet of a return to the bargaining table by the Metal Trades Council and Consolidated Nuclear Security — the government’s managing contractor at the nuclear weapons plant.
Clarence Rashada, president of the umbrella labor organization that represents 10 unions at Pantex, reiterated — as he said last week — that he’s ready to resume negotiations whenever CNS is ready. But he also indicated that a “cooling-off” period is likely before any meaningful talks take place.
Rashada wasn’t pleased by messages from the Pantex management team that seemed to encourage hourly employees to return to work.
“I don’t like the idea of them encouraging them by doing that little stunt,” he said, noting there were reports of people inside the plant calling some of the on-strike workers. “People should know they shouldn’t cross the (picket) line. They’ve tried all kinds of tactics.”
Texas is a right-to-work state, and the unions have reportedly left one entry gate to the Pantex free of picketers to allow managers and other employees to enter the plant without any commotion. Rashada said he didn’t know for sure if any of the Metal Trades Council members had returned to work, but he said it would become clearer over the next couple of days.
Earlier, he said he thought there was a lot of unity and solidarity based on the votes to reject the company’s final contract offer and to go on strike.
The union leadership actually recommended approval of CNS best and final offer, but the rank and file still rejected it soundly.
“It was not the best contract, but we felt like it was do-able,” Rashada said.
He said he hopes when the two sides return to the table, they will start off where they left off. But he noted that’s not always the case because of hard feelings.
Rashada said he and others realize that Consolidated Nuclear Security isn’t to blame for everything in the contract proposals, noting that the Pantex contractor is simply carrying out DOE orders in trying to cut some of the worker benefits.
Last week, Ron Ault, president of the Metal Trades Department in Washington, D.C., blasted the Department of Energy for enforcing DOE Order 350.1, which restricts spending on worker benefits.
“It’s not the company,” Rashada said. “They’ve got a job to do, and that’s what they’re doing. I don’t fault the company as much as I do the Department of Energy. In some kind of way, they’re going to have to try to clean this up.”
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