The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. July 8.
A new contract at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge includes 2.5 percent wage increases for security police officers.
The new contract, a five-year labor agreement, applies to more than 360 security police officers at Y-12.
The International Guards Union of America Local 3 and Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the contractor that operates Y-12, reached the agreement on Tuesday, July 3. Negotiations had started in mid-May.
The agreement includes 2.5 percent wage increases each year, said Shannon Gray, president of IGUA Local 3, which is in Oak Ridge. There are also some other incentive payments for rotating shift workers, who will receive a significant bump in pay, Gray said.
The security police officers have moved to a three-tier health care plan, similar to what other workers at Y-12 have done. That has given the security police officers a better plan, a plan known as a select plan, Gray said. He said it’s the best benefit offered of the three. Research and negotiations helped the security police officers end up with a better plan than others have ended up with at Y-12, Gray said. The IGUA select plan will be a better benefit to individuals and families, he said.
Gray said security police officers have a lower multiplier for pension benefits than other workers at Y-12. But increasing the multiplier could have cost the government more than $30 million, Gray said. Increasing the pension multiplier was “on the table,” but it’s not clear that either the government or CNS were interested in raising it.
The union had to ratify the contract, which was considered the last, best, and final offer. Y-12 security police officers voted on the agreement on July 3, and about 72 percent voted in favor, Gray said.
The new five-year contract expires August 15, 2023.
“CNS management is pleased discussions between the two parties have resulted in a new labor agreement and recognizes the IGUA membership’s important contributions to Y-12 and national security,” Y-12 said in a press release last week.
“They’re an integral part of everything we do,” said Ellen Boatner, Y-12 spokesperson.
The current six-year contract expires August 15.
Besides Y-12, CNS operates the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. Boatner said Pantex has its own union for their guards, and the two unions have separate labor agreements.
The new contract announced last week applies just at Y-12, Boatner said.
IGUA Local 3 also represents other security professionals in Oak Ridge, including at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and at the the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, and there are various collective bargaining agreements in place. The contract announced last week was only for security police officers at Y-12 under CNS.
Y-12 has been responsible for its own security since 2012, following a transition from former contractor WSI Oak Ridge after a security breach.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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