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Mayor, commissioner head to D.C. to lobby against slashed funding
By Lou Mattei, SUN News Editor
Thursday, March 8, 2012 10:06 AM MST
Española Mayor Alice Lucero is hoping she and a handful of other municipal, county and state politicians from across New Mexico can change Congress’ mind about cutting funding and jobs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Lab plans to shed 400 to 800 jobs from its workforce by the end of the fiscal year in accordance with a $300 million budget cut between fiscal years 2011 and 2012 and expectations for flat or lower budgets in the future, according to Lab spokesman Fred deSousa.
He said about 15 percent of the Lab’s employees are from Rio Arriba County. So if the job cuts come down proportionally, Rio Arriba stands to lose 60 to 120 jobs from the layoffs....
...Lucero pointed out other Administration facilities were “funded generously” compared to the Lab.
Sandia National Laboratories, for instance, saw its funding rise between fiscal years 2011 and 2012 from $1.43 billion to $1.45 billion, federal budget records show. Its request for fiscal year 2013 is $1.76 billion, an increase of 21 percent.
Overall, the Administration’s budget increased from $10.52 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $11 billion in 2012. Its request for fiscal year 2013 is $11.53 billion, an increase of 9.6 percent since 2011.
Meanwhile, Administration funding for Los Alamos has dropped from $1.88 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $1.63 billion in fiscal year 2012, federal budget records show. Its request for fiscal year 2013 is $1.52 billion, a decrease of 19 percent since 2011.
www.riograndesun.com/articles/2012/03/08/
news/doc4f57a441779b6513982808.txt
30 comments:
The budget problems at LANL are mostly locally grown. LANS has done an extremely poor job keeping program funds flowing into the lab for both weapons work and for "national security" WFO programs. It's not just about CMRR.
When you have lousy management, you typically get lousy results. No private company could ever survive for long with a poor executive team like LANS leading the company. They've driven LANL into the ditch!
If Senator Pete was still spreading the money around, LANL would be doing fine. The Lab got soft over decades.
Yeah both McMillan and Knapp don't know the Washington scene. I also know for a fact that Knapp has alienated both Navy and Air Force customers. These customers are sick and tired of his arrogant and pompous attitude. He thinks he's running the Pentagon in he the few meetings I've seen him at. The military abhor being around this dumb ass.
SNL is going back up in WFO after a two year decline.
LANL is going back down in WFO after a two year increase.
Can't help but wonder about this trend. And the timing. And DC connections.
If program money is reduced, the over paid good ol' boy network of LANL managers simply add on higher program taxes to continue their pilfering of the program funds that are left.
Given this situation, is it any wonder that LANL is in this fix? When program money goes down, managers should be the FIRST group of people to face the axe!
lisopticycluFollow the money, Sen Domenici performed literal financial acrobatics to keep a bloated lab. As most of us know a large portion of the excess was not well spent. DC insiders known all of this, future budgets will be on a decline. Without strong DC representation LANL may be reduced to a much smaller lab requiring fewer employees.
Wanna see a another large LANL SNAFU, just sit back and watch LANL handle the VSP, Involuntary riff's......If they can survive without total disruption of the work-force, community and norther New Mexico I will be surprised!
Can't wait to see the demographics of employee's selected for the Riff. So far the word on the street is less than 125 have signed up for the VSP
LANS will likely get less than 150 people for the VSP, mostly those age 60+ who have stayed around to keep active. Because of the huge budget snafu this year of about $300 million, with even more budget loses to come in FY2013, McMillan will want to go for the bigger number of 800 layoffs.
That means 650 people will be be thrown on the street by LANS in the next few weeks. LANS has these employees already targeted. They'll be especially eager to layoff members of the scientific research class, as LANS sees these workers as "too expensive" and they'll get more bang for the buck with each $100k+ salaried scientist they can lay off.
If this RIF is true to form to others that have taken place within the NNSA complex, the fact that you have solid funding backing you up will mean next to nothing in the decision process as to whether you get targeted for layoff.
Its clear to me that LANS truly believes they can accomplish "science" at Los Alamos with a rapid turn-over of cheap, low benefit post-docs. This leaves more money to pay out in high salaries and perks for LANS managers. That is the reason why post-docs have been declared immune for the approaching layoffs.
The LANL regular staff has been abandoned by Obama, Congress, the NM delegation and, worst of all, by our very own management team, LANS (aka Bechtel). When this is all over a few years from now, LANL is going to be a much smaller lab with much lower quality of science and will be situated in a county that is suffering massive economic pain.
Not to worry, both McMillan and Knapp will have their 1st class tickets booked back to Cali to leave this mess behind them when they retire.
Has the County Council taken any steps to help elevate the lack of gross receipts tax for the county?
' ... and, worst of all, by our very own management team, LANS (aka Bechtel).'
Hey, 3:51 PM sorry to dampen the Bechtel bashing, but you might want to check your math. Most of the LISC work for UC.
Hey, 3:51 PM sorry to dampen the Bechtel bashing, but you might want to check your math. Most of the LISC work for UC.
March 10, 2012 6:37 PM
You got that right. UC LISC members (Knapp, Marquez, etc) are working hard screwing LANL employees while the new Deputy Lab Director (Sellers) and new AD for Construction (Henry) do absolutely nothing other than look for their new Becthel assignment. These folks are absolutely worthless. These folks are so visible I don't even know their names.
If they get 800 old timers they have to pay out about $40M in incentive. Does that money come from programs?
If they get 800 old timers they have to pay out about $40M in incentive. Does that money come from programs?
March 14, 2012 9:45 AM
DOE/NNSA (i.e. Federal Government) is paying all the severance. McMillan make this point 5-times. LANS isn't paying a dime.
Is it true that they got only 230 for VSP?
Is it true that they got only 230 for VSP?
March 14, 2012 6:14 PM
And keep in mind they all have until Monday to change their minds.
VSP might finalize at around 200 volunteers by close of this week. After that, the blood bath begins with the involuntary layoffs.
Expect 600 heads to roll, with most of the layoffs targeting the scientist job levels. That's where McMillan intends to "save" on his high labor costs. LANS is going to be extremely careful to not get hit with legal charges of discrimination against certain groups (except for the older workers, of course). They don't want the EEOC showing up at LANL's doorstep like last time in '95.
Don't expect LANS to be gentle or understanding about this exercise of induced worker bankruptcy and home foreclosure. Do expect them to march the chosen 600 out the front gates on short notice with security escorts at their sides like they were petty thieves. Bechtel wouldn't have it any other way.
Don't expect LANS to be gentle or understanding about this exercise of induced worker bankruptcy and home foreclosure.
March 14, 2012 8:17 PM
Name one other major private employer in the country who WOULD care about that. The fact that you chose a one-employer town (or state) to work in at your profession is your tough luck. Why would Bechtel, a worldwide corporation, worry about that? It was long past time 8 years ago for LANL employees to stop thinking of themselves as coddled children of UC. Some apparently still do. Sad and worse for the spouses and kids, that their oh-so-precious scientist breadwinners couldn't see this coming. LANL isn't, and never really was, in any sense a university campus. Like any other laid-off employee is the past 5 years in the US, you will now have to go out and sell yourself. Good luck.
Other than Iran and N.Korea there's not much of a market for nuke scientists. Maybe Los Alamos county will hire them to build round-abouts.
Why work at a horribly broken institution that rewards CYA paper-pushing, incompetence and cronyism? A research lab that is now run by a corrupt private company like Bechtel?
LANL stopped being a desirable lab to work at and a place in which to advance a successful scientific career years ago. Those who are still hanging on to the long past dream.... why? Hasn't it become clear that LANS upper management could care less about 99% of the scientific research staff who still work there?
"VSP might finalize at around 200 volunteers by close of this week. After that, the blood bath begins with the involuntary layoffs.
Expect 600 heads to roll..."
...
Readers of this this writer's comments should really take them with a grain of salt. This is the same guy who predicted McMillan would fire people at the last all-employee meeting, and it did not happened.
Who predicted they would be escorted out the gates, and it did not happen.
He is formulaic:
1. Start with a falsehood.
2. Based on that falsehood, predict dire outcomes (using the word "expect"), up to and including the demise of LANL, slandering McMillan, LANS, and Bechtel along the way.
His latest prediction will be proven false.
This is the sickest form of watercooler rumor-mongering, amplified and given faux-credibility by the Internet.
It demeans the medium and the namesake of this blog.
Unfortunately, your type now infest most of the ranks of upper management at the for-profit weapon labs.
March 17, 2012 7:56 AM
OK, so name a profitable corporation anywhere in the world whose managers (especially upper level ones) don't support "the Boss."
"OK, so name a profitable corporation anywhere in the world whose managers (especially upper level ones) don't support "the Boss."
March 17, 2012 9:25 AM"
Well ya just like the people who worked for Madoff, Ken Lay, Tom Petters, Raj Rajaratnam, Allen Stanford, Milken, James Lewis, and Benard Ebbers.
The free market always...ALWAYS is better. After all LLNL should be run just like any other company, for example how is it different from, say, selling electricity, stocks, or bonds? Really it is the same thing, right? You are a true f*cking genis 9.25AM. Support the Boss.
LLNL should be run just like any other company, for example how is it different from, say, selling electricity, stocks, or bonds? Really it is the same thing, right?
March 17, 2012 11:25 PM
No, of course it is not the same. Everyone knows the workers at LLNL are really, really, really special.
"No, of course it is not the same. Everyone knows the workers at LLNL are really, really, really special.
March 18, 2012 10:27 AM"
Bingo!!! No they are not special they are overpaid and complain too much. What they do is no different or no more important than any other job. We should just outsource this place like every other job.
NNSA ("The Boss"), LLNS ("The Boss"), LANS ("The Boss") and Bechtel ("The 'BIG' Boss") have made a mess of things. Anyone who has been present at LLNL and LANL during the last decade has seen the damage. Report after report has documented this damage.
Support of "The Boss" is how you make your way up into the sick, dysfunctional and highly compensated club that is leading the NNSA labs to ruin.
March 18, 2012 1:41 PM babbled:
"...sick, dysfunctional and highly compensated..."
Yep! That's the ticket!
With all this talk about budget problems and staff layoffs at LANL, you would think LANS would be cutting back on the bloated managerial overhead levels. You would be wrong, of course!
Brett Knapp, PAD for weapons, just announced he is splitting up one of his divisions to create TWO new divisions.
The gaming of the system at LANL by LANS executives to create more highly compensated upper management jobs goes on and on.....
Just as government bureaucrats beget bureaucrats, industrial managers beget managers. It is their substitute for productivity. And it is a way of life in this century. Take heart in that they stupidly reduced their bonuses by increassing the number of managers sucking at the tit of the fixed bonus pool!
Creating more levels of expensive management overhead during a severe lab budget crunch.
Heckavajob, Knapp. LANS, as ever, is true to form.
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