Blog purpose

This BLOG is for LLNL present and past employees, friends of LLNL and anyone impacted by the privatization of the Lab to express their opinions and expose the waste, wrongdoing and any kind of injustice against employees and taxpayers by LLNS/DOE/NNSA. The opinions stated are personal opinions. Therefore, The BLOG author may or may not agree with them before making the decision to post them. Comments not conforming to BLOG rules are deleted. Blog author serves as a moderator. For new topics or suggestions, email jlscoob5@gmail.com

Blog rules

  • Stay on topic.
  • No profanity, threatening language, pornography.
  • NO NAME CALLING.
  • No political debate.
  • Posts and comments are posted several times a day.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Thou Has Spoken

Please post anon, just a few notes:

I've jotted down a few notes some of which may or may not have gotten by some of you. Please review the 39 pages of information at the bottom of this post in great detail. The two statements that stuck out the most were these.

_Why are Career Indefinite employees being laid off instead of the FX and SLs? I thought they were the flexible workforce.

_The exclusion status remains in effect for the current Involuntary Separation Program (ISP) - NIFies are going to get the double whammy come September of 2008 when NIF does their normal RIF in conjunction with the labs ISP

Thou-Has-Spoken

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Why are Career Indefinite employees being laid off instead of the FX and SLs? I thought they were the flexible workforce."

How many times do you have to hear this before it sinks in - the organization needs to maintain at least part of its workforce as the flexible workforce. If you let all of the flexible workforce go, you'll have no flexible workforce. As the Lab shrinks, sooner or later the career indefinite folks will have to start taking the hit. In the meantime, it's in the best interests of the organization to keep those with the skills that best match the workload. Besides, a "permanent" job-for-life is an entitlement, which is a thing of the past.

Anonymous said...

One more time I will ask the question again. I still don't get it.

Once you know your unit which I guess is defined by your 4 digit classification, is it "years of service in that 4 digit classification" or "years of unbroken service at LLNL". There is a big difference.

Within a layoff unit, the order of Involuntary Separation
in the same classification(defined as the four digits of
the classification), is based on inverse order of seniority - last in first out.

• Skills, knowledge and abilities is the tie breaker

Notice requirements

• Up to 30 days
• Pay in lieu of notice may be given

Preference for transfer, recall and rehire

Anonymous said...

More truth to this than one wants to admit

"Layoffs are going to be a constant theme at the new LLC run labs. Get use to much higher stress, stagnant wages, and crazy new policies designed to make your work more difficult to accomplish."

"NNSA has managed to destroy what were once the crown jewels of America's national lab system. Congress could do something about this decline, but I wouldn't count on it." It's game over.

Maybe it's time for everyone of the workers to understand each and everyone of us have a limited time left at LLNL, so why bust your butts for anyone. It's time to become what NNSA / LLNS has created. It's eight for eight and out the gate. There nothing to strive for any more. Yes the game is truly over

All that left to do, is to take them down with us.

Anonymous said...

You're correct. Thou has spoken, there will be not more blue collar FTE's ever again at LLNL.

That right is strictly reserved for 200 series professionals, so all of you TERM employees that held on for so long for an FTE position, you're "SOL" unless you are a professional TERM employee.

Have a good day. All that you thought was going to be will never materialize.

Q. Why are Career Indefinite employees being laid off instead of the FX and SLs? I thought they were the “flexible” workforce.

A. We have substantially reduced the flexible workforce as a part of this workforce restructuring process. In the first phase we
reduced this population by ~500 people.

• We will continue to assess and reduce this workforce in light of current work and future mission requirements.

• In some cases, the employees in the flexible workforce
have SKAs that are essential to the mission and these
SKAs are not represented in the population to be laid off.

Anonymous said...

One more time I will ask the question again. I still don't get it.


It is unbroken service compared to the unbroken service of the others in your four digit classification. If you are a 5xx.x series you will be compared to the other 5xx.x series with in your division. If you happen to have 30 years of unbroken service and the rest of the 5xx.x series in your division have less you will be the last one to be laid off (if they are after 5xx.x guys). If you have 5 years at the lab and the rest of the 5xx.x guys have more time then you are in big trouble. It has nothing to do with how many years you have compiled in the classification just how many years at the lab compared to how many total number of years the other guys in your classification have.

Anonymous said...

Besides, a "permanent" job-for-life is an entitlement, which is a thing of the past.

April 21, 2008 5:52 PM

What a shame for generations to come. I guess your children will just have to experience what my grandfather did.

1.) Worked until age 65

2.) No medical or retirement plan what so ever, same as a 401k in a crappy economy.

3.) Upon qualifying for medicare and social security, still couldn't pay for food, car or gas.

4.) Had to barter for the plumbing in his home by rebuilding a plumber old truck

5.) Had to go back to work and asked to be paid under the table so the government didn't reduce his social security. Did this until he was 70

6. Died two years later.

Isn't life great. This is your children's future and possible yours if you are not ULM. What a bunch of jerks and some people are so stupid they accept this BS.

7.) I guess we're back to the basics. You get what you allow. In this case You are getting the shaft and you don't even realize it.

Someday maybe we'll stand up for what we want and show the CEO's we have a backbone by doing "what ever it takes" to get their attention and to assure our survival.

Anonymous said...

April 21, 2008 6:44 PM

Non-professional term employees should be pissed off to the max. All those years wasted waiting for an FTE to be fired or die so they can become an FTE. Well, good old LLNS took care of that. I hope you understand what was said.

Only professionals will be FTE's

The support labor will stay flexible aka term / contract with no need to have FTE's so they can be disposed of easily.

You got it TERMS? Unless you are a PROFESSIONAL, you will NEVER be an FTE. Those days are gone for any blue collar support labor employee.

How much simpler do you want it to be put to you. How many of you caught that politically correct dance around the question when it was presented to Miller.

Do you now understand why LLNS is laying off FTE's. It's time to get these people out the gate before they turn 50 and with less than 3 years so they are not vested. Good old TCP-1 was a wonderful choice.

Anonymous said...

Ok, what if they want to cut three people within your dept. that are 5xx.x, but as it happens, you only have three within that class. Are all three laid off? Seems that seniority wouldn't much matter in that case...

Anonymous said...

What is the definition of a "unit"? (no dirty jokes please ;-)

Also, Is the cut based on all 5xx.x within the lab, or within your div. or within your dept.?

Anonymous said...

The Pursuit of Happiness is a God given right so when they fire you for no fault of your own they take away this God given right which is unconstitutional.

Anonymous said...

"Once you know your unit which I guess is defined by your 4 digit classification,..."

Ok, but HOW is it broken down? No one where I'm at knows the answer! It's STILL unclear to us! Are ALL the 500's evaluated as a "unit" or is it broken down, e.g., 533.x's are evaluated as a unit 502.x's are evaluated as a unit.. etc.

If a 533.1 has been here longer than a 502.1 will the 502.1 go? or are they class of 500 series specific?

Anonymous said...

"If a 533.1 has been here longer than a 502.1 will the 502.1 go? or are they class of 500 series specific?"

It is class specific. That is:

Seniority of 531.3 against 531.3s.

Seniority of 531.2 against 531.2s.

Seniority of 531.1 against 531.1s.

.......within each division.

Anonymous said...

April 22, 2008 10:48 AM

"Ok, but HOW is it broken down? No one where I'm at knows the answer! It's STILL unclear to us! Are ALL the 500's evaluated as a "unit" or is it broken down, e.g., 533.x's are evaluated as a unit 502.x's are evaluated as a unit.. etc."

"If a 533.1 has been here longer than a 502.1 will the 502.1 go? or are they class of 500 series specific?"

-----

Current understanding is that the 533.1s will only be compared to other 533.1s in the same layoff unit (think organization/program area), and the 502.1s will only be compared to 502.1s in their area. Each layoff unit and classification can have different targets for numbers to be released.

Hypothetical 1: say the layoff unit in your area has decided they need to release two 533.1s, and three 502.1s. Here's the hypothetical population, with years of service (names all fictitious and selected alphabetically by first letter of name):

502.1 (ISP=3)
=============
Andy 10yrs
*Carla 5yrs
*Earl 4yrs
*Gina 3yrs

533.1 (ISP=2)
=============
Bob 2-1/2yrs
Dan 2yrs
*Fred 2yrs
*Hugo 1yr

The folks with stars next to their names are released. Notice that Carla, Earl, and Gina all have more years of service than Bob or Dan, so one might think that fairness would dictate these folks be kept above both Dan and Bob from the 533.1 list, but because they're 4-digit classification is different, that's the breaks. Bob and Dan keep their jobs.

Hypothetical 2: There are two different "layoff units" orgA and orgB, in two totally different organizations, each with a population of 502.1s, and they're each releasing two.

orgA
502.1 (ISP=2)
=============
Ida 10yrs
Ken 5yrs
*Mary 4yrs
*Oscar 3yrs

orgB
502.1 (ISP=2)
=============
Joe 30yrs
Lou 20yrs (more SKAs than Ned)
*Ned 20yrs
*Paul 11yrs

The folks with stars next to their names are released. Even though the two bottom people in orgB (Ned, Paul) have more years of service than every other 502.1 in orgA, they will still get the axe because the policy is to select by layoff unit, then 4-digit classification. Also in this example, notice that Lou and Ned have the same years of service, but in a seniority tie, management then compares SKAs and in this case, Lou presumably demonstrated a critical skill that Ned was lacking.

Does that help?

If anyone has heard different, please correct these examples.

Anonymous said...

The folks with stars next to their names are released. Even though the two bottom people in orgB (Ned, Paul) have more years of service than every other 502.1 in orgA, they will still get the axe because the policy is to select by layoff unit, then 4-digit classification.

From what I hear it's not even that consistent. Org A & B are able to define layoff units differently & however they like whether it's by 4 digit job code, by project or even something as nebulous as "skill set" and only then apply the "by seniority in job classification" rule. This came from my supervisor who asked the DL the specific definition of business unit & layoff unit.

Posts you viewed tbe most last 30 days