OFFICE OF WORKER AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION
October-November 1995
WORK FORCE RESTRUCTURING PLANS
APPROVAL OF WORK FORCE ADJUSTMENT PLAN FOR KNOLLS ATOMIC POWER LABORATORY
On October 24, 1995, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved the Knolls Atomic
Power Laboratory (KAPL) FY 1995 Work Force Adjustment Plan. The Plan covers an
anticipated work force reduction of up to approximately 93 positions at the Kesselring
Site located in West Milton, New York, and approximately 47 positions at the Knolls
Site in Niskayuna, New York.
KAPL offered a Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) consisting of a $20,000
separation incentive payment for those employees who have at least 20 years of
company service. Employees who agreed to voluntarily separate under the Program,
who were not retirement eligible, were offered Displaced Worker Medical Benefits,
relocation and educational assistance. All employees were afforded outplacement
services under the VSP. The VSP had 110 participants in the Program at an average
separation cost of $23,900 and 40 individuals were involuntarily separated.
APPROVAL OF SUPPLEMENT TO THE LOS ALAMOS SITE-WIDE WORK FORCE
RESTRUCTURING PLAN
On November 9, 1995, the Department of Energy approved the transmission of a
supplement to the FY 1995-96 Los Alamos Site-Wide Work Force Restructuring Plan to
the U.S. Congress. The Supplement covers additional reductions announced on
August 21, 1995, and brings the total work force reductions at the site since the spring
of 1995 to 1,005 individuals. These reductions are the result of both budget reductions
and efforts to improve operational efficiency at the Laboratory.
The Supplement includes a voluntary separation program offered to Laboratory support
personnel that provided an option between regular severance pay or a $20,000 lump
sum payment. Scientific and technical classifications were not eligible for the voluntary
program due to the need to retrain their skills and the desire to improve the support to
direct research ratio. A total of 252 employees participated in this program, reducing
the number of involuntary separations by approximately 200.
On September 13, 1995, 256 Laboratory and 297 subcontractor employees received
60-day notices of involuntary separation at Los Alamos. All separated Laboratory
employees and qualified subcontractor employees were eligible for retraining,
education, and relocation assistance. All separated employees were offered
outplacement assistance. These benefits are consistent with the FY 1995-96 Los
Alamos Site-Wide Work Force Restructuring Plan, which was approved on May 5,
1995. The total estimated cost for LANL and subcontractor restructuring activities
identified in the plan and modified by the supplement is $14,336,288, or an average of
$14,293 per separated employee.
A lawsuit was filed in October 1995 against the University of California seeking an
injunction to halt the involuntary separations on the grounds that they were conducted
in a manner inconsistent with established policies under the University's contract with
the Department. A complaint has also been filed with the Department of Labor on the
same grounds. On November 27, 1995, a preliminary injunction was overturned,
allowing involuntary separations to go forward. After the injunction was lifted, a total of
197 employees were separated while 59 were placed internally in other Laboratory
positions.
WORK FORCE RESTRUCTURING PLAN APPROVED FOR OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE
On November 29, 1995, the Department of Energy transmitted to the U.S. Congress the
FY 1995-96 Work Force Restructuring Plan for Oak Ridge Operations. The Plan covers a
potential reduction of between 700 to 900 positions over the next two years.
The reductions result from cuts in the Department's Environmental Management program
budget, and from new initiatives to increase cost effectiveness and efficiency of
operations. Identification of positions to be eliminated is based on extensive work force
analysis, which serves to match available skills with ongoing mission requirements. In
addition, extensive efforts are being made to internally transfer potentially dislocated
workers to other positions at Oak Ridge.
To date, 103 prime contractor and 67 subcontractor workers have been separated under
the Plan. Of these, 52 prime contractor employees left voluntarily under provisions that
allow those who volunteer to separate, and who thereby avoid the necessity for an
involuntary separation, to receive severance pay. As a result, only 51 prime contractor
employees have been involuntarily separated.
Under the Oak Ridge Work Force Restructuring Plan, qualified involuntarily separated
workers are eligible for Displaced Workers Medical Benefits and all involuntarily separated
employees receive regular contract severance and are eligible for education, relocation,
and outreach assistance.
The estimated cost for the Plan is $7.5 million, or approximately $16,700 per prime
contractor position eliminated. Recurring annual savings are estimated to be up to $50
million, if separations total the high estimate of 900 individuals.
WORK FORCE RESTRUCTURING ANNOUNCEMENTS
ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL WORK FORCE REDUCTIONS ANNOUNCED AT NEVADA
On October 11, 1995, the Department of Energy announced the potential for additional
work force reductions at the Nevada Operations Office. As part of on-going efforts to
streamline operations and to improve efficiency across the DOE complex, an additional
200 to 500 contractor positions may be reduced by December 31, 1995. This could
bring the total number of positions reduced at Nevada during calendar year 1995 to as
many as 1,800 individuals. Potential separations will be administered under the
provisions of the Nevada Operations Office Work Force Restructuring Plan approved
on May 18, 1995.
WORK FORCE REALIGNMENT AT SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES
On November 30, 1995, the Department of Energy approved a 120-day announcement
scheduled for December 5, 1995, of an anticipated reduction of up to approximately 320
positions at Sandia National Laboratory during Fiscal Year 1996. The Department
anticipates that Sandia will be able to match approximately one-third of the excess skills
with available jobs, resulting in a net impact of 200 jobs.
Sandia has realized productivity improvements through re-engineering its "way of doing
business." This work force realignment will ensure a continuing balance between
employee skills and work, and it will reflect a reduction in total overhead expenses. The
realignment will manage personnel reductions in defined work areas where functions and
positions no longer meet the current and anticipated needs of Sandia.
A work force restructuring plan to cover these reductions will be developed in consultation
with local stakeholders and will be submitted to DOE Headquarters for review and
approval. To minimize the need for involuntary reductions, a Voluntary Separation
Incentive Program will be included in the plan. This program provides 1.5 weeks of salary
per year of service, with a minimum of $15,000 and a maximum of 27 years of service
(40.5 weeks). The estimated cost for the program is $6.6 million, or an average of
$33,000 per separated worker. Also included in this plan will be displaced worker health
benefits, preference in hiring, retraining and educational assistance to prepare displaced
workers for future careers, outplacement assistance, and relocation assistance.
VOLUNTARY SEPARATION APPROVALS
VOLUNTARY SEPARATION PROGRAM APPROVED FOR NATIONAL RENEWABLE
ENERGY LABORATORY
On November 2, 1995, the Department of Energy approved the proposed Voluntary
Separation Program for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in Golden,
Colorado. The proposed voluntary separation incentive program provides two primary
options for employees. The first option would provide employees who volunteer to
separate with 2 weeks of severance pay for each year of service up to a maximum of
36 weeks. Employees selecting this option would also be eligible for Displaced Worker
Medical Benefits, educational and relocation assistance. The second option would
provide employees with a lump sum severance benefit based on years of service.
Employees with fewer than 5 years of service would receive $17,000; employees with
between 5-10 years of service would receive $25,000; and employees with more than
10 years of service would receive $35,000. Employees selecting the lump sum option
would not be eligible for medical, education, or relocation benefits. All separating
employees will be provided with career assistance services. Estimated average cost of
the voluntary program is approximately $27,500 per separated worker.
NREL expects to reduce employment by 97 positions. It is anticipated that the
voluntary separation program will meet most of this reduction objective.
INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
INVOLUNTARY SEPARATIONS APPROVED AT NEVADA OPERATIONS
OFFICE
On October 30, 1995, the Department of Energy approved the issuance of involuntary
separation notices to all employees of EG&G, Raytheon Services, Nevada, and
REECO at sites managed by the Nevada Operations Office. This general notice was
provided to meet the legal requirement of 60 days notice of involuntary separation
under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN).
On October 27, 1995, the Secretary announced the selection of a new Performance
Based Contractor Team, led by Bechtel Nevada Corporation, for the Nevada Test Site.
The new contractor team will assume operational responsibility on January 1, 1996.
During the month of November, the new contractor team determined which current
employees would be tendered offers of continued employment.
On November 29, 1995, the Department of Energy announced that 30-day individual
notices of involuntary separation would be issued to approximately 800 employees of
contractors managed by the Nevada Operations Office. This is 300 more than the up to
500 reductions that were announced on October 31. General notices were issued to all
current EG&G, Raytheon Services Nevada, and REECO employees on November 1,
1995, in anticipation of the need for additional reductions. These additional reductions are
primarily due to a reduction of $107 million in the level of FY 1996 appropriations approved
by the Congress below the funding projected in September.
At that time, it was anticipated that overall work force reductions at the Nevada
Operations Office would be 1,800 for the period of October 1, 1994 to December 31,
1995. Based on revised estimates, it is anticipated that overall reductions will be
approximately 2,200. Involuntarily separated workers will receive benefits consistent with
the Nevada Operations Office Work Force Restructuring Plan including severance;
displaced medical benefits; education, relocation, and outplacement assistance.
WORK FORCE PLANNING ACTIVITIES
OCTOBER
The first Work Force Planning Board of Directors meeting was held on October 24,
1995, via conference call. A number of issues were left unanswered that are critical to
the success of the Work Force Planning Information System (WFIS) and the
commitment to the Secretary to have a contractor work force planning capability in the
Department. A follow-on meeting was scheduled in Chicago for November 17th to
address the planning and design assumptions of the WFIS and any other concerns.
NOVEMBER
The Board of Directors meeting scheduled in Chicago was postponed due to the
Federal budget crisis. On November 30, a conference call was held with the Board of
Directors to obtain consensus on the WFIS strategy to develop the system. Consensus
was reached by the group to move forward with the WFIS requirements identification
and projection tools. There were several action items identified by the Board including
the costs to convert data from its existing form to the WFIS.
The Projections Subcommittee held its last meeting on November 29th. The
Subcommittee provided the results of the Common Occupational Classification System
(COCS) survey and the 10-step work force planning process used by the group to
evaluate projection needs. The Subcommittee concluded that the COCS held promise
as a Department-wide work force planning classification system. Information on the
process and the findings will be provided to the full Work Force Planning Committee for
any comments.
COMMUNITY TRANSITION ACTIVITIES
COMMUNITY TRANSITION FUNDS PROVIDED TO THE EASTERN IDAHO
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
The Department announced that it would provide $5 million in community transition
funding to assist in the diversification of the Eastern Idaho economy and to mitigate the
effects of downsizing at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL).
Over the past 24 months, approximately 1,700 jobs have been lost at the INEL -- almost
25 percent of the work force from 1993. In addition to the impact on the local economy,
the INEL downsizing is reducing the revenues of local government and its ability to be
responsive to local needs. The funds will be used to support management efforts for
start-up firms, new job creation, expand existing services delivered by the region's
incubator facilities and provide planning assistance to existing firms to diversify or
expand their businesses.
COMMUNITY TRANSITION FUNDS PROVIDED TO THE NORTHERN NEW MEXICO
DEFENSE ADJUSTMENT TASK FORCE
The Department also announced the award of a $5 million grant for community
transition activities to the Northern New Mexico Defense Adjustment Task Force. The
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is the major economic entity in the region.
Approximately 88 percent of the work force in Los Alamos County is associated with
LANL. The funds will be used to encourage private employers to create jobs for and
hire terminated LANL employees or contractors and create an infrastructure for longer
term diversification.
In order to reinforce the Department's commitment to the region's diversification efforts,
a group of senior DOE staff met with LANL employees and local officials to identify
economic development opportunities with the greatest diversification potential for the
area.
OCTOBER
As a result of the September National Stakeholder Workshop in Albuquerque, a small
community transition steering group representing Community Reuse Organizations,
field offices, and Headquarters met to identify major barriers to community transition
and to provide an agenda for a larger Focus Group meeting scheduled for November
14-15, 1995, in Washington, DC. The Steering Group identified the following nine
areas that need to be discussed by the Focus Group:
1) Roles and Responsibilities
2) Performance Measures
3) Peer Review Recommendations for Funding
4) Strategic Planning
5) Intellectual Property
6) Commercialization Strategy
7) Reexamination of Clean-up Priorities at Facilities with Low-level Contanimation
8) Personal Property
9) Facility Modification and Reuse
Each of the nine areas will be addressed by a working group of the Focus Group.
Draft products developed by the working groups will be presented at the next National
Stakeholder Workshop in March 1996. Final versions will appear as revisions to the
Guidance for Support of Community Transition Activities.
NOVEMBER
The Focus Group meeting scheduled for mid-November was postponed to December
12-13 due to the Federal government's budget crisis. In order to utilize the extra time,
the Steering Group elected to define the problem statements of each topic and to
develop an approach to eliminating or minimizing barriers and creating new
opportunities. This information would then be shared with the Focus Group in
December through a series of conference calls.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES
OFFICE OF WORKER AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION INFORMATION EXCHANGE
ESTABLISHED
The Office of Worker and Community Transition has established an Information
Exchange to increase communication with its stakeholders and the public. This has
been made possible by the Department of Commerce's Office of Economic Conversion
Information (OECI) through the use of their existing defense downsizing and
conversion information clearinghouse. OECI is a collaborative effort of the Economic
Development Administration (EDA) and the Economic and Statistics Administration
(ESA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Office of Economic
Adjustment at the Department of Defense. Effective September 18, 1995, the Office of
Worker and Community Transition made available to the public its program
documentation and other informational materials through its own library in OECI's
existing clearinghouse. The Information Exchange can be accessed in the following
ways: A Home Page on the Internet; an electronic bulletin board system; CD-ROM; an
automated fax system; an "800" operator; and regular mail. If you have a World Wide
Web client, like Mosaic or Netscape, you can access the Office of Worker and
Community Transition Home Page by pointing to the Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
http://www.stat-usa.gov/owct.html. A User's Guide to assist you in accessing the
Information Exchange is enclosed with this Program Update.
The Office has also established a "listserv" group on the Internet as another means of
communicating with stakeholders. The listserv provides a way to quickly distribute
messages, announcements, short documents, and other information to stakeholders
through the Internet. If you have an e-mail address you can "subscribe" to receive all
information sent out by the Office via the listserv. All information will go directly to your
e-mail address. To "subscribe" you must send an e-mail message to: (owct-
request@cher.eda.doc.gov). In the text part of your e-mail, type the word subscribe
followed by a space and your e-mail address (e.g., subscribe john.doe@hq.doe.gov).
WORKER AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION FOCUS GROUPS
As a result of the September National Stakeholder Workshop in Albuquerque, five
focus groups are in the process of being developed to address specific
issues/concerns expressed by individuals at the workshop. The mission of the focus
groups is to provide a vehicle for labor organizations, communities, state and local
governments, industry, contractors, other stakeholder organizations, and the
Department of Energy to share information, to identify issues central to worker and
community transition activities, and to work together to clarify concerns and issues.
If you are interested in participating in one or more of the focus groups, please indicate
your interest by completing and returning the attached form. The focus groups will
work to identify issues and to propose solutions by the next National Stakeholder
Workshop in Atlanta on March 13-15, 1996. If you would like more information, please
contact Laurel Smith at 202-586-4091.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PRIME CONTRACTOR EMPLOYMENT
The attached table documents prime contractor employment reductions that took place
in FY 1995 at selected sites. The table illustrates that more than 14,000 prime
contractor separations that have taken place through FY 1995 with only approximately
20% of separated workers leaving involuntarily. An aggregate figure for subcontractor
reductions at selected sites is also included. All of the subcontractor separations are
involuntary.
ATTACHMENT
Office of Worker and Community Transition Contacts
Director: Bob DeGrasse 202-586-7550, FAX 586-8403
Deputy Director: Terry Freese 202-586-5907, FAX 586-8403
Program Communications: Pat Parizzi202-586-7550, FAX 586-8403
Worker Transition:
Terry Freese 202-586-5907, FAX 586-8403
Lew Waters 202-586-4010, FAX 586-1540
Work Force Planning:
Deborah Swichkow 202-586-0876, FAX 586-8403
Lyle Brown 202-586-0431, FAX 586-8403
Labor Relations:
Lyle Brown 202-586-0431, FAX 586-8403
Deborah Sullivan 202-586-0452, FAX 586-1540
Community Transition:
Bob Baney 202-586-3751, FAX 586-1540
Mike Mescher 202-586-3924, FAX 586-1540
Deborah Swichkow 202-586-0876, FAX 586-8403
Public Participation: Laurel Smith202-586-4091, FAX 586-8403
Work Force Restructuring Field Contacts
Felix Ortiz, Albuquerque Operations Office505-845-4207, FAX 845-4715
Elaine Kocolowski, Chicago Operations Office708-252-2334, FAX 252-2919
Luella Bennett, Idaho Operations Office 208-526-1913, FAX 526-5969
Bob Agonia, Nevada Operations Office 702-295-1005, FAX 295-1876
Bill Truex, Oak Ridge Operations Office 423-576-0662, FAX 576-6964
Harry Printz, Oakland Operations Office 510-637-1829, FAX 637-2008
Ken Briggs, Ohio Field Office 513-865-4267, FAX 865-4312
Dom Sansotta, Richland Operations Office509-376-7221, FAX 376-5335
Lenora Lewis, Rocky Flats Office 303-966-4263, FAX 966-3321
Dave Hepner, Savannah River Operations Office803-725-1206, FAX 725-5968
Gil Gilyard, Savannah River Operations Office803-725-1544, FAX 725-7631
Pat Lillard, Kansas City Area Office 816-997-3348, FAX 997-5059
Alan Goetz, Pinellas Area Office 813-541-8114, FAX 541-8370
Gene Gillespie, Portsmouth Site Office 614-897-2001, FAX 897-2982
Jimmie Hodges, Paducah Site Office 502-441-6800, FAX 441-6801
Community Reuse Organizations
ETEC - Energy Technology
Engineering Center
Bonny Matheson-Capobianco, Chair
Los Angeles Community Reuse Organization
c/o Valley Industry and Commerce
Association
21600 Oxnard St., Suite 410
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 888-2228
(818) 716-2780 (FAX)
HANFORD
Linda Hymas
TRIDEC
901 N. Colorado St.
Kennewick, WA 99336
(509) 736-0629
(509) 735-6609 (FAX)
IDAHO
Dan Cudaback
Eastern Idaho Economic Development Council
591 Park Ave., Suite 302
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 522-2014
(208) 522-3824 (FAX)
LOS ALAMOS
Jim Greenwood, Chairman
Los Alamos County Council
Los Alamos Economic Development Corp
P.O. Box 715
Los Alamos, NM 87544
(505) 662-0001
(505) 662-0099 (FAX)
MOUND
Mike Grauwelman
MMCIC
P.O. Box 232
Miamisburg, OH 45343-0232
(513) 865-3921
(513) 865-4431 (FAX)
NEVADA
Tim Carlson, Executive Director
State of Nevada Commission on Economic
Development
555 East Washington, Suite 5400
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 486-2700
(702) 486-2701 (FAX)
OAK RIDGE
Tom Rogers, President
East Tennessee Economic Council
1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
(423) 483-1321
(423) 483-1678 (FAX)
OXNARD
Steve Kinney
President, Greater Oxnard Economic
Development Corporation
711 South "A" Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 385-7444
(805) 385-7452 (FAX)
PINELLAS
Andrew H. Hines
Pinellas Plant CRO
Triangle Consulting
150 Second Avenue, North
Suite 1600
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(813) 894-1100
(813) 822-0914 (FAX)
PORTSMOUTH
Steve Carter, Economic Development Director
Ohio Valley Region Development
Commission
740 2nd St., Room 102
Portsmouth, OH 45662
(614) 354-7795
(614) 353-6353 (FAX)
ROCKY FLATS
DeAnne Butterfield, Executive Director
Rocky Flats Local Impacts Initiative
5460 Ward Rd., Suite 205
Arvada, CO 80002
(303) 940-6090
(303) 940-6088 (FAX)
SAVANNAH RIVER
Lewis Attardo, Executive Director
Savannah River Regional Diversification
Initiative
P.O. Box 3077
Aiken, SC 29802
(803) 593-9231, ext. 1403
(803) 593-4296 (FAX)
SIGN-UP FORM
OFFICE OF WORKER AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION
FOCUS GROUPS
Name:
Organization:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Proposed Focus Groups
o Process Improvement and Revision of Interim Planning Guidance for Contractor
Work Force Restructuring
o Guidance for Support of Community Transition Activities
Roles and Responsibility
Performance Measures
Peer Review Recommendations for Funding
Strategic Planning
Intellectual Property
Commercialization Strategy
Reprioritization
Personal Property
Facility Modification and Reuse
o Public Participation in Decision-Making
o Workshop Planning
o Contract Reform and Labor Interests
Suggestions for other Focus Groups
o
o
Please fax or mail your response to:
U.S. Department of Energy
Attn: Laurel Smith
Office of Worker and Community Transition, WT-1
Room 4B-172
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20585-0110
Fax: 202-586-8403