NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18/NN_1992_18.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/5826

Text File | 1992-08-15 | 6.7 KB | 110 lines

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From: [e-mail] (Harel Barzilai)
Subject: ECONOMIC CONVERSION: Massive Job Loss Without Congressional Action
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Topic 242       OCAW, S.2506 & Nuclear Cleanup  2 responses
ocaw    Labor News & Notes       1:14 pm  Jul 21, 1992
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     DOE Nuclear Communities Across America to Suffer Massive Job Loss
   Without Congressional Action on Defense Nuclear Workers Bill of Rights


     Denver, Colo. - Up to 22 communities will suffer preventable economic
hardship and up to 30,000 workers will needlessly lose their jobs from the
closing of nuclear weapons facilities, if Congress fails to pass legislation
(S. 2506) which ensures that displaced nuclear weapons workers will be given
preferential hiring opportunities to perform environmental restoration and
waste management work.
     Legislation sponsored by Senators Gore (Democratic Vice Presidential
candidate from Tennessee), Glenn (Ohio), Wirth (Colo.), and Gorton (Wash.) will
be voted on the week of July 20 by the Armed Forces Subcommittee on Strategic
Forces and Nuclear Deterrence.
     As the DOE complex makes a transition from weapons production to
environmental cleanup, S. 2506 will require:
o  the Department of Energy contractors to offer current nuclear defense
workers retraining and preferential hiring for environmental restoration and
waste management work. S. 2506 will also protect workers' collective bargaining
agreements and pensions - provisions which are especially important because
different contractors will be used for cleanup work than were used for weapons
production;
o  health insurance and medical monitoring for workers exposed to ionizing
radiation or other hazardous substances; and
o  direct assistance for displaced workers and communities.
     "Nuclear workers across America call on Senator Al Gore to seize the
mantle of leadership as the Democratic Party's Vice Presidential candidate by
leading the charge to pass this important legislation," demanded Robert E.
Wages, president of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union.
"Just as we are assisting nuclear weapons scientists in the former Soviet
Union, we should provide assistance to our veterans of the Cold War."
     "These (nuclear) workers could provide a valuable resource for addressing
the monumental problems in the nuclear weapons complex," noted Jim Werner,
senior engineer at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national
environmental advocacy group. "These workers are already familiar with the
facilities and have been trained in radiological control procedures."
     Other peace and environmental groups have coalesced in support of this
legislation including:  Friends of the Earth (Washington, D.C.), Oak Ridge
Education Project (Tenn.), Snake River Alliance (Idaho), Nuclear Safety
campaign, and Rocky Mountain Peace Center (Colo.).
     Displaced atomic weapons workers have found it extremely difficult to find
other jobs due to the perceived health risks they shoulder from years of
ionizing radiation exposure.  "Employers understandably don't want to assume
the high cost of health insurance from radiation exposed workers," noted Wages.
"Displaced atomic workers start with three strikes against them in the job
market."
     This legislation has engendered opposition from the Department of Energy,
which "says" it wants workers and communities to have a smooth transition but
"does" the exact opposite. For example, DOE recently issued a request for
proposals for the massive environmental restoration task at the Hanford, Wash.
facility which will result in the displacement of the current workforce (3,200)
in favor of new workers to be hired by the successful bidder.
     "Why does DOE want to displace these veterans of the Cold War? Why does
DOE want to displace workers who have already received costly training in
handling high level radioactive materials?", asked Jim Watts, a nuclear worker
at the Hanford, facility.  "S.2506 injects badly needed guidance into the DOE."
     Senators from a number of states who are hard hit by DOE plant closings
are supporting this bill, including Senators Gore and Sasser (Tenn.), Bryan
(Nev.), Glenn (Ohio), Gorton (Wash.), Wirth (Colo.) and a candidate for U.S.
Senate, Representative Richard Stallings (Idaho). Senator Hank Brown (R-Colo.)
has offered a workforce restructuring bill that contains minimal worker
protection provisions.
     Although more than 20 national unions, the AFL-CIO Industrial Union
Department, and the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO are actively
supporting S. 2506, one union has decided to oppose the legislation. The
Laborers Union wants to displace existing workers in favor of workers
represented by their union to perform the environmental restoration work. Some
Senators have stepped away from support of S. 2506 by saying they don't want
to get involved in a union jurisdictional question. However, a decision to
reject S. 2506 will automatically give preference to the Laborers over the
existing workforce - which is represented by the Steelworkers, OCAW, Operating
Engineers, and a score of craft and metal trades unions. The Laborers have
signed pre-hire agreements with companies that are bidding on the cleanup work,
and if Congress doesn't step in, tens of thousands of skilled workers will be
needlessly displaced - with all of the attendant costs to the communities and
the economy.
      "Thousands of nuclear workers in 22 communities will be watching closely
to see if the Senate will take sides with the DOE bureaucrats, or whether they
will protect these communities from being tossed onto the economic scrap heap,"
noted Wages.
     "OCAW members welcome the end of the Cold War and the DOE's new mission
of environmental restoration," Wages commented.  "We understand the need for
change - but change should be constructive and, where possible, built upon
fairness and utilization of the skills and experience of the existing
workforce, while preserving community stability and restoring the environment."
     OCAW represents 100,000 workers who work in oil refineries, chemical and
pharmaceutical plants, and DOE nuclear defense facilities.

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