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Nuclear Weapons Lab to Slash 500 Jobs
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One of the nation's premier nuclear weapons labs plans to cut about 500 jobs because of rising costs stemming from a changeover in management and potential federal budget cuts.
Layoffs at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will mostly affect support and operations employees, spokeswoman Susan Houghton said Tuesday. She said the laboratory would try to protect scientific research positions, but added that it's not known whether scientists would be laid off.
Lawrence Livermore, part of the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, has about 8,000 employees. A $300 million budget shortfall is prompting the layoffs.
The shortfall emerged after the laboratory, located about 50 miles east of San Francisco in Livermore, changed management in October.
A series of accounting, security and safety lapses prompted the federal government in 2003 to require competitive bidding for the management contracts for Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
The University of California had long managed both labs without competitive bidding for the contracts.
The university eventually won back the contracts to manage Lawrence Livermore — awarded in May of this year — and Los Alamos — awarded in 2005 — in partnership with several engineering and nuclear specialist firms.
Lawrence Livermore's financial troubles stem from higher taxes and health care costs now that it's managed by a limited liability company rather than a nonprofit public entity, Houghton said. She added that those costs are expected to come down in the future.
Houghton said potential cuts in the Energy Department's 2008 budget stand to cut into the money awarded to the lab for nuclear weapons work and other programs.
17 comments:
The "initial" layoffs for LANL, will be about the approximate number of the LLNL's numbers, ...but after the solid numbers come out from Congress for the funding levels, this number will increase accordingly...bottom line is hang on to your ass it's going to be a ride you won't forget...courtesy of Mikey...
The stress levels are showing, how much longer are we expected to just sit and wait and listen to every rumor, why doesnt Mikey and his bunch , let us know what they are planning , they are allowing the stress to take over the lab, 500 + at Livermore, and this is before we have a budget..wow, what can we expect....???1000 +.....
The numbers that Ive heard are about 1,800, before the budget, anyones gues what kind of hits the budget will bring....Got House?
"Layoffs at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will mostly affect support and operations employees, spokeswoman Susan Houghton said Tuesday. She said the laboratory would try to protect scientific research positions, but added that it's not known whether scientists would be laid off." (News)
LLNL says they are going to take a stand and protect the science over support functions. Don't expect to see anything similar to this coming from our LANS management. Sigh!
It's now Wednesday the 14th and the Thanksgiving Holiday is quickly approaching. Not a peep from LANS management has been heard about the promised pre-Thanksgiving All-Hands meeting to inform staff about the workforce restructuring plans.
Time is quickly running out. When do they plan on doing this critical meeting? Next week when everyone has left for Thanksgiving?
LANS performance continues to surprise with its extremely poor execution.
Did you know - EWOKs lack testicles.
That explains alot
Hey, LANS. Git 'er dun!
11/14/07 10:38 AM; "LLNL says they are going to take a stand and protect the science over support functions. Don't expect to see anything similar to this coming from our LANS management. Sigh!"
Oh come now, you want to make the "brilliant" scientists of LANL a protected class now? How pathetic is that?
Keeping the scientists, brilliant or not, would be better'n making the managers the protected class, no?
"LANS performance continues to surprise with its extremely poor execution."
Is anyone really surprised any longer at this point?
not sure but I think this LLNL announcement mirrors the cuts in contract force at LANL that occurred last fall to the tune of a few hundred employees...not a RIF plan that is in step with the current 3161 plans
but hell what do I know
"not sure but I think this LLNL announcement mirrors the cuts in contract force at LANL that occurred last fall to the tune of a few hundred employees...not a RIF plan that is in step with the current 3161 plans"
Not entirely true - slated for RIFs in mid-January 2008 are a mix of Supplemental Labor (contract employees) and Flex Term (6-year term) employees. We were told approximately 500 total. Flex Term employees are regular, full-time employees, not unlike two-year limited term employees at LANL - maybe a bit more permanent than LT. And there has already been a low-level of activity in laying off retirees, contractors, and (maybe) Flex Term.
Word on the street is 120 LLNL Plant Engineering folks were given 15 minutes to gather their personal belongings before they were escorted off site
"flex term" at LLNL was like a tenure process. You were supposed to be told 4 years into your commitment whether you would be "converted" (LLNL's jargon) to "core." If not, management was supposed to help you find a new job. Well, I was told I would be converted, but when the time came, I wasn't due to budget problems. Luckily I was laid off the last day LLNL was LLNL not LLNS because my pension eligibility stayed with UC. Get a job on a campus, and I've only 6 months more to vest. Anyone who stayed there, and transferred their pension eligibility to the new company is really screwed because they lost their time-in -service credit at UC. PS I was a scientist there. No one was being protected except ADs and above.
120 people at LLNL is bogus. A 3161 is required for more than 50 layoffs per month.
"120 people at LLNL is bogus. A 3161 is required for more than 50 layoffs per month."
3161 does not apply to LLNL Supplemental Labor or Flex Term. That falls under the WARN Act. Under WARN, even 60-day notification isn't required for less than 500 layoffs. Between 50 and 499, 60-days notification only applies if it affects more than 33% of the workforce.
Because of those WARN Act provisions, NSTec at the NTS was able to sever employment with well over 50 employees this week, well before 60 days was up.
Expect 600 contract and term gone by Jan 31st and in March 300+ FTE's. The numbers mumbled at the last meeting with SP was expect to see numbers like 2400 at each facility and then there is this. SP said two years ago I want that $2M used for EBA for projects and there will be no EBA lit after LLNS takes over. Well guess what. Now that in Dec we are going to have hundreds of HIS fellow engineers and scientist on the EBA list fully supported by the overhead funds the EBA list is not a "valuable tool". The tune really changes when it close to home doesn't it SP. But here's the kicker. Some FTE non degreed people are going to be booted and these engineers and scientist are going to be put in your place while they retain their ungodly salaries instead of being RIF'd. So there's justice for you.
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