Lab passes union issue off

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 18, 2007 | by Betsy Mason

LIVERMORE -- The efforts of a group of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees to form a union hit a snag this week when lab management filed a petition asking the National Labor Relations Board to take jurisdiction over the matter.

The skilled trades employees had been certified on Sept. 26 by the California Public Employment Relations Board, which deals with public entities such as the University of California, which managed the lab until Oct. 1. Under PERB, organizers were able to gather signature cards from a majority of employees to gain certification.

But with the NLRB, which deals with private companies, a one-day election is required, which organizers say is a higher hurdle to clear. Organizers claim UC was dragging its heels in order to force the employees to deal with the NLRB.

"Every step along the way they did everything possible to slow down the process and run out the clock," said Jelger Kalmijn, president of the Society of Professional Scientists and Engineers, University Professional and Technical Employees, the parent union of the Livermore Lab bargaining unit.

UC had raised objections during the PERB process about the makeup of the bargaining unit, saying more employees should have been included. UC had 10 days to appeal the PERB decision, a period that hadn't run out when management of the lab was transferred to Lawrence Livermore National Security.

"From our perspective, the PERB process had not been completed," said Jan Tulk, senior adviser to the director at Livermore Lab.

"We think it's really important for employees to get to vote in a private election," Turk said. "We think that's the fairest way."

On Sept. 27, and again after the Oct. 1 transition, union organizers sent a letter to lab management demanding to bargain. On Oct. 9, the lab responded with a letter saying that the new management "does not recognize your Union as the exclusive representative of its employees to bargain with about terms and conditions of employment."

This prompted the union to file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB against the lab on Oct. 11.

It isn't clear where the issue will land in the end, but lab director George Miller said, "Wereally want to get on with establishing a productive relationship with our employees," and the election is the quickest way to resolve the issue, which he described as a "difference of legal opinion."

But Kalmijn disagrees.

"If they were interested in quickness, they could have just recognized us when they got the letter from PERB," he said.

Betsy Mason can be reached at 925-952-5026.