Anonymously contributed:
The 1994 Salary Freeze
Be aware that the last time salaries were frozen in 1994, some contractors "continued to give salary increases that were not always in accordance with Departmental (i.e. DOE) policies". Both these contractors "did not fully comply with the Secretary's pay freeze in 1994". Two of those Labs were Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Also note that only 8 of the 31 contractors were audited in detail.
http://www.ig.energy.gov/documents/CalendarYear1997/CRB-9702.TXT
This speaks for itself on many fronts....
12 comments:
Maybe some bigwigs at LLNL got a raise in 1994, I sure as heck didn't.
Can someone tell me what it really means?
A question that none of you have asked is do the people at the labs really deserve a raise? We can all agree that there are certain jobs right now where people should be getting raises such as, our soldiers, firefighters, police, first responders, caregivers, teachers, nurses, border patrol, social service workers, NASA personal, health professionals, NIH lab techs, professors at state schools, and so many more that give so much to improve our way of life. Do you really think that people that work on things to destroy life are worthy of raises?
Now do not get me wrong I am not some left wing nut, in fact I am middle of the road, I am just saying that in these hard times we have to think about who really deserves extra beyond what is already adequate pay, when so many are doing without.
8:39, there are many projects at the lab, you should do a little more research before posting. And NASA personnel, really?
I'm thinking most would trade job security and no pay cuts for raises these days, I would rather see that as the main focus.
The question posed by January 1 @ 8:39:
"Do you really think that people that work on things to destroy life are worthy of raises?"
How about that coal miner risking his life day in, day out to mine a substance that pollutes the air and causes lung problems? Never mind the fact that the capability of having electricity to type on a blog is one of of those benefits gained from that miner's efforts.
What about the cattle rancher or potato farmer who's product may end up at a Mcdonalds near you, clogging your arteries?
How about the factory worker making those toys that induce all those children to get those kids meals at fast food places, so their arteries begin to be clogged?
Here is an adage from those that handle firearms:
You'll probably never NEED a gun. I hope you never do.
But IF you do, you will need it worse than anything you've ever needed in your life.
The same thing applies to any weapon, including those that are nuclear.
There are many of us that work behind a fence knowing that what we work on can destroy life. And we also know that as insane as it may be, the weapons we maintain have kept the world from WWIII.
"the weapons we maintain have kept the world from WWIII."
I think it is more due to with rational heads and policy makers. People not weapons start wars.
And shortly after the 1994 salary freeze at LANL came... RIFs!
Deja vu all over again?
Can someone tell me what it really means?
January 1, 2011 8:25 AM
In spite of DOE requirements the Lab's management will continue to disregard and find loopholes to get personal financial gain. This will also occur in the current "freeze".
Ha - It is even worse now since the Lab Directors get 2 paychecks. One from LANL or LLNL and then another as well as added perks from LANS and LLNS. I think the same holds true for others in the upper ranks.
And there in lies the rub. When UC was managing the labs we ALL, including the Lab directors had the same benefits and structured salaries.
Now since the selling out of the labs to corporate America it is all about cover ups, lies and greed by management.
The fundamental change that the new Contract 41 brings to laboratory culture that did not exist under Contact 48 is the creation of two distinct employee classes, with different interests driven by opposing rather than aligned incentives.
The few, senior managers, are now incentivized to take things away from the other larger class, the general employee population.
Under these conditions, senior managers as distinct from the general population have analogies in life and literature:
* the "pigs" of Orwell's Animal Farm
* "quislings" of WWII Nazi Norway
* "black sheep" of the slaughterhouse
Senior managers are now incentivized to both reduce the general well being and to subvert employees from opening hostility when they are mistreated.
Under this new organizational design, it is irrational to expect senior managers to act on behalf of employees if it is not in senior manager's interests.
So, we see a salary freeze while maintaining manager bonuses. We see the elimination of lifetime medical benefits for retirees, who are thrust into Medicare at age 65.
We see $47M in FY09 fee paid to the empty LLNS shell LLC. We see $75M paid in FY09 fee to the empty LANS shell LLC. Neither LLC has contributed a single notable thing to the accomplishments of the labs that was not already in place under UC. The adminisration through DOE, rewards those who kept things in line, but does not recognize the merit of those who accomplished the work. Two distinct classes treated very differently.
The general population is learning through repeated disappointments, the futility of their predicament. Like those mistreated in history, literature and life, by "pigs", "quislings" and "black sheep", the logical response is not to follow misaligned leadership, but to act in their own behalf.
This can be acceptance, departure, resistance or an independent path.
In the long-term, misaligned rewards and incentives is a fundamental organizational design mistake.
January 7, 2011 10:04 PM:
You are way too into this thing. Get a life. No one cares about your juvenile analysis. Such as it is. You have way too much free time. Spend more of it at something useful.
didn't accomplish much during that freeze either, learned to turn the other cheek so to speak
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