LLNL - The True Story -

By anonymous: As of 2/26, no 401(k) contributions to Fidelity have been made by LLNS for the 2/22 paycheck. Look at your transaction history, folks. Deposits have historically been made on payday. The market has gained considerable momentum in the last two days with the D/J up almost 300 points. When pressed, payroll said it was a transfer "glitch" and wouldn't commit to the Friday rate. Where's our money? Where's the profit we've made had it been given to Fidelity on 2/22?

No money to spend on research, universal health care, education or alternative fuel infrastructure. I wonder why? I Ain't Got No Money Iraq war 'caused slowdown in the US' Font Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Peter Wilson, Europe correspondent | February 28, 2008 THE Iraq war has cost the US 50-60 times more than the Bush administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. The former World Bank vice-president yesterday said the war had, so far, cost the US something like $US3trillion ($3.3 trillion) compared with the $US50-$US60-billion predicted in 2003. Australia also faced a real bill much greater than the $2.2billion in military spending reported last week by Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston, Professor Stiglitz said, pointing to higher oil prices and other indirect costs of the wars. Professor Stiglitz told the Chatham House think...

Unofficial numbers: 190

I was talking to a few people at LANL today and they heard that drug testing will start soon at LLNL, that is right after they determine what the penalty for being positive of an illegal drug will be.I'll bet it will be immediate dismissal without a chance to fight the finding. Don't forget, there are many ways to find drugs in your body and not all of them are blood and urine. So if you're a user, the VSSOP is still available. Might want to think about that. Notification could come on a moments notice and without warning.

Tuesday is the last day to sign up for VSSOP Tuesday, Feb. 26, is the last day for employees who are eligible to take the Voluntary Self-Selection Option Program (VSSOP) to sign up. The VSSOP is a self-select option — participation is entirely voluntary. It allows career indefinite employees to request consideration for separation with severance payment. Accepted employees will receive severance payment of one week’s pay for each year of continuous full-time equivalent service, up to a maximum of 26 weeks. VSSOP-eligible employees' applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. So how many people signed up.

Rumor: The Policy and Procedure Manual sections regarding resignation and layoffs are being rewritten so the policies can be changed in time for an involuntary layoff. Fact: There are many sections of the policy and procedure manual being rewritten to reflect the change to a new contract manager and new provisions under the contract. One such section is the resignation/layoff policy and procedures. However, any changes made to this section will not be applied to current workforce restructuring action plans. Should an involuntary layoff become necessary, it will continue to be based on skills, knowledge and abilities for the 200 job series; seniority for all other job classifications. An employee’s years of seniority did not change as a result of change in the contract manager. Looks like seniority will play big for any involuntary layoff to come. That could be a good thing for many, but I'll assure you they'll find a way to get rid of the dead weight.

The question was: When can we expect the responses to the RFC for the 3161 plan to be made public? DOE rep Homer Williamson said: I don't have a firm date but I know HQ is back to reviewing them after focusing on the VSSOP recently. My commentary: Either there have been thousands, perhaps millions of responses for DOE HQ to take this long to review them or there is a one person doing the review at their spare time. Comments from employees dont seem to be given priority.

Please listen to this lecture and ask yourself a question. How do you rank in comparison?

Contributed by anonymous: Good sources indicate that approximately 200 people have signed up for the VSSOP as of 2/15, most of them in the first few minutes after 8 AM on Tues., 2/12. Seems logical, since it's first come, first served. No doubt a few will get cold feet, and some may end up not being eligible because of caps; perhaps a few more will get fed up during the last week and sign up before the deadline. Nevertheless, it appears as if the OP will fall way short of the 700-750 desired. This is not good news for ULM. Add to that GM's estimate of the FY09 budget on Newsline last week (another $67M shortfall). The mechanisms for an involuntary layoff are not good. Should be an interesting next two months.

Gradual retirement may not be key to happiness By Gail MarksJarvis | Tribune staff reporter November 11, 2007 Ask a Baby Boomer what his or her retirement plan is, and you are likely to hear: "Work forever." It's a standing joke in a generation that includes many who lived a little too much for today and not enough for tomorrow. With more than 70 million Baby Boomers moving closer to retirement age, about 80 percent say they plan to work at least part-time after retiring, according to AARP, which has surveyed Money is the top reason, but so is enjoyment. While keeping a foot in the work world should help pay for groceries and trips to see grandchildren, it might not make the next generation of retirees any happier than those who simply call it quits on retirement day. Retirees who left work cold turkey are as happy as those who held onto jobs and retired gradually, according to a just-completed study by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research. Rather than remai...

"I signed up for vssop on 2/14 and my transition ID number was lower than 250, so that number is not accurate for a total count." That's great. Maybe we can get that number down to less than 100 or so. After all, you gain nothing by going now and are not sure you'll even get unemployment, so why not wait until they fire you and then you'll get it for sure. That would at least give you time to find a job during our current recession. By not taking the VSSOP will force management into doing a ISP by at least June of 2008. This will hold LLNS accountable, and make them hand pick the 650 people they need to accomplish their mission of tossing 750 out the door by Mid March. From what I have heard the list has been compiled since December of 2007. Regardless, I'm sure LLNS will be more than accommodating on short order, but you at least would not have quit your job only to make their job easier. The latest rumor is that LLNS already knows they're $50M short for ...

It looks like LLNS is hiring! See these openings

Do you believe this? The LANL was reported "blocked" for access from within lanl.gov. I would not be surprised if LLNS does the same to our BLOG. This is when Doobydew and I need your support! If we are blocked, we should all write and ask questions. Below is the LANL post reporting the blocking: Well, it looks to me like LANS has everything under control here. They've even added a new web content filter to "secure" LANL staff from reading the blog from the lanl.gov domain. Pinky, I think LANL management is afraid of you. Staff, however, don't seem to much care one way or another that the blog is being blocked, which is why I'm bugging out and leaving you again comfortably in charge. Pinky, I want to thank you for doing such a fine job in running your blog, and for letting me put in my two cents every now and then. Good luck in running this puppy for whatever the remainder of its life will be; I'm sure you will do just fine with it on your own. Likew...

Employees who are eligible to take the Voluntary Self-Selection Option Program may sign up beginning today (Feb. 12) at 8 a.m. The VSSOP is a self-select option ­ participation is entirely voluntary. It allows career indefinite employees to request consideration for separation with severance payment. Accepted employees will receive severance payment of one week’s pay for each year of continuous full-time equivalent service, up to a maximum of 26 weeks. VSSOP-eligible employees' applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. VSSOP eligibility criteria: • Full-time or part-time career indefinite employees working a fixed percentage of time as of Jan. 31, 2008. • Minimum of one year of service based on last hire date. • Not part of any group specifically excluded from participation. • Employee must submit an application during the application period. • Employee may be on an authorized leave without pay, except for personal leaves for the purpose of temporary outs...

Sent in by anonymous: I have received a notice from LLNS by US mail ($0.41 postage) that states: "Based on you annual earnings, you may be eligible to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit from the federal government. The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. ....." Since I am a double-dipper earning well over $200K per year, I am not sure what kind of records these clowns are keeping. On second thought, compared with the salaries of the ULM, maybe I am low income.

Mr Homer Williamson's answer to the question about when are the 3161 comments going to be published on 1/8/08 was: Responses have been drafted and are under review. Comments and responses will be published to the website in the near future. I reminded him again. You can too: email: ">homer.williamson@oak.doe.gov

Please post anon. I was amazed and literally blown away when I found out where I ranked in all three categories below after decades of struggling for recognition for my work ethics, employee reliability, problem solving abilities and job performance. It didn't take me long after viewing my numerical ranking to figure out that being outstanding in all categories wasn't important to LLNL and its management at all. What really mattered was how good of a politician I could have been, was I a good smooger, and how well did I understand how to set myself up to assure a greater income so as to secure a position in the ranking so when there's a RIF I'd be in the top 50% in all three categories listed below. The problem is, I evidently didn't understand the game and played poorly. When shown my numbers of which I've never seen in almost three decades I concluded that everything I have done for my entire career was a total waste of time and effort. It also told me that wh...

Erik Stenehjem, the new director of the Industrial Partnerships Office. Photo by Jacqueline McBride What once was the Lab's Industrial Partnerships and Commercialization (IPAC) office now has a new name and a new director. Its new name is the Industrial Partnerships Office (IPO). And its new director is Erik Stenehjem (sten-yem). "The reason for our name change is to place an added emphasis on the importance we see of building work-for-others collaborations with industry," Stenehjem said. Stenehjem comes to the Laboratory with the experience of working in different capacities for 24 years with Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle. Most recently, he served for 18 months as the science and technology adviser to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski. He also worked for Battelle in technology commercialization and started new technology-based ventures with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Stenehjem started at the Lab Oct. 1, replacing Karena McKinley, who retired in June. Roger Werne, th...

By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In his fiscal 2009 budget request released yesterday, President George W. Bush is seeking $10 million to continue design work on a controversial next-generation nuclear warhead that received no funding from Congress this year (see GSN, Jan. 16). The president’s $3.1 trillion budget plan also consolidates and increases funding for nuclear weapons incident response activities within the Energy Department. Some funding has been shifted from Defense Department nuclear nonproliferation programs to enhance Energy Department response capabilities. Overall, weapons activities within the Energy Department would receive $6.6 billion beginning Oct. 1 under the proposed budget, an increase of just over 5 percent from fiscal 2008. Following lawmakers’ decision to eliminate $88.8 million in requested funding for the new warhead design, dubbed the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), the National Nuclear Security Administration had suggested that some w...

It is amazing to read every ones comments on the propose VSSOP and layoffs as if they are effected by budget problems in Washington. This layoff is about supporting contract 44 which in turn supports complex transformation. I wish some of you would use your brains and go to the LLNL home page. Look in the right top corner and click on contract 44 read through it. Then go to the NNSA home page and click on complex transformation read through it. You'll then find that NNSA plans to cut 20% of the work force at LLNL and close 30% of the buildings that support weapons work. Another report your brains need to read is the Chiles report. Go to the LLNL home page search and type in Chiles report. When you've finished come back here and summarize what you read.

Contributed anonymously, Who's Zoomin' Who? This is another example that shows the ineptitude of LLNS management and the degree to which they will kowtow to NNSA. Just as they screwed up the transition by trying to make it worse than what transpired at LANL, they are trying again to scare you into accepting less. The best thing that could happen would be that the LLNL population will see through the deception (just as many did for TCP-1) and minimally participate in this VSSOP. What's wrong? First and foremost, they are asking you to resign instead of laying you off! Along with this, they are specifically making you give up any notice or pay in lieu of notice. There's a reason that clause is specifically in the agreement that you sign (electronically) when you check the box on LAPIS.

 And this is bad because? They keep telling you that it's the same whether you participate in the VSSOP (resign) or must leave later via the ISP (get laid off)....

Livermore lab offers buyouts to up to 750 By Betsy Mason, MediaNews Article Launched: 02/04/2008 06:29:25 PM PST Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced Monday it will offer voluntary separation packages to as many as 750 employees, including 326 scientists and engineers. The buyouts will come from the core, permanent workforce and will be given on a first-come, first- served basis. ``We think this is the next step to retool the workforce to reflect the budget changes that are happening at the federal level,'' said lab spokeswoman Susan Houghton. The Department of Energy's budget request for 2009, announced Monday, is up $1 billion to $25 billion, but Livermore's slice of the pie is shrinking by $62 million to $1.1 billion. It is down from nearly $1.3 billion in 2007. The bulk of the cuts will come from nuclear weapons work. It is unclear if involuntary layoffs will be needed even if 750 employees take the packages. ``We have to decide what happens after that,...

From: Public Affairs Office Subject: Lab's 3161 Specific Plan Approved NNSA approval has just been received for the Laboratory's specific workforce restructuring plan, which includes a voluntary self-selection option program (VSSOP). Details will be announced to all employees on Monday, Feb. 4, in a 10:30 a.m. all-hands meeting in Bldg. 123. In addition to Bldg. 123, employees will be able to view the live presentation from the auditoriums in Bldgs. 155, 453 and 543 and will have the ability to ask questions live, via a remote call-in. The meeting also will be broadcast via Laboratory TV, channel 2. Program specifics will be available to all employees on Monday afternoon via the MyLLNL portal.

Brought this comment to the top for comment from all concerned. "_Your biggest fear in retirement should not be the amount of your SSN check_". It should be fears about covering increased medical expenses. Medicare is a budgetary disaster and you *WILL* be paying much, much more for medical care after age 65. Both LLNS and LANS will attempt to drop retirement medical coverage in the next few years, so you'll likely see no supplemental help from them to cover much higher Medicare expenses. The Baby-Boom generation is in for a big shock after they retired. You have a good promise in terms of SS payouts but expect to see your wallet cleaned out by any medical expenses. There is no easy way for the US to get out this problem other than to make the old folks pay a much higher percentage for their health care. The outcome of all this is that in about 15 years we will see two types of middle class retirees. On one side will be those who stay healthy and, thus, have retained savi...

Investors of All Ages, Take a Deep Breath Wednesday, January 23, 2008; D01 The stock market is plummeting, the housing market is tanking, and talk of recession has reached a fevered pitch. So what does this mean for the American consumer? If you've got a mortgage, is it a good time to refinance now that the Federal Reserve has slashed the federal funds rate? If you've got credit card debt, will your rates decrease? And what about the stock market? Buy, sell or sit tight? The good news is, you should see lower interest rates on student loans, credit cards, home-equity lines of credit and some mortgages. But keep in mind that the subprime mortgage meltdown has produced a tighter credit market. That means you will need solid credit and, in the case of refinancing, enough equity in your home to reap the benefits. Investment strategies depend on your stage in life, but financial advisers said they are giving their clients, regardless of age, one simple piece of advice: Stay calm. I...

Delay noted in notifying lab workers about possible exposure last updated: February 02, 2008 03:00:43 PM LIVERMORE, Calif. — Dozens of contract workers were not informed that they may have inhaled particles of a metal that can cause an incurable lung disease until five months after routine tests at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory uncovered the substance, a lab spokeswoman confirmed. The lab, which develops and tests nuclear weapons for the federal government, is arranging to have the workers from Livermore-based GSE Construction tested for sensitivity to beryllium, an earth metal used in the defense and aerospace industries. A low percentage of those who develop beryllium sensitivity go onto develop byryllium disease, a potentially fatal lung disease. "GSE and the workers are very concerned," company spokesman Kevin Goodwin said. Traces of the element turned up a year ago in the machine shop where the workers had completed a four-year earthquake safety project, but the...

The RIF poll was up for 6 weeks and only 46 people responded (dismal!). For what it is worth, here is a summary: 60% were "career" employees 70% were male 32% were in Business Ops 23% in Weapons 17% in Science 14% in NIF 10% in other 7% in Global security 10% were managers