Pantex workers considering strike
Amarillo, Texas -- Workers are pondering a Pantex Plant strike over benefits, but union officials remain in negotiations with contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security, a union official said Monday.
Clarence Rashada, president of the Metal Trades Council, said the council, a 10-union coalition that represents roughly 1,200 Pantex workers, held a weekend rally to inform its workers of a possible strike if a five-year pact isn’t reached with Consolidated Nuclear Security, the contractor that operates the nuclear weapons plant for the federal government.
Rashada said the union is pursuing ways to obtain health insurance if members vote to strike against Consolidated Nuclear Security. Union members, he said, are concerned about having to bear increasing costs for prescription drugs.
“If we go out on strike, the reason that we would is the benefits,” Rashada said, citing cuts in benefits to Pantex workers who are not members of the union. “It’s sick leave, medical benefits and prescription drugs. ... If we’ve got to pay a little higher co-pay and a little higher premium, that’s negotiable.”
Read more: http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2015-04-13/pantex-workers-considering-strike
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.