Back by popular demand, this is the rumor corner!
Have you heard of any changes? more cuts? or even anything good?
Tri-Valley Cares needs to be on this if they aren't already. We need to make sure that NNSA and LLNL does not make good on promises to pursue such stupid ideas as doing Plutonium experiments on NIF. The stupidity arises from the fact that a huge population is placed at risk in the short and long term. Why do this kind of experiment in a heavily populated area? Only a moron would push that kind of imbecile area. Do it somewhere else in the god forsaken hills of Los Alamos. Why should the communities in the Bay Area be subjected to such increased risk just because the lab's NIF has failed twice and is trying the Hail Mary pass of doing an SNM experiment just to justify their existence? Those Laser EoS techniques and the people analyzing the raw data are all just BAD anyways. You know what comes next after they do the experiment. They'll figure out that they need larger samples. More risk for the local population. Stop this imbecilic pursuit. They wan...
Comments
There was some kind of emergency meeting of ADs this morning. What was that about?
Are the overhead rates in the fictional budgets for next that we've been sending out of to WFO actually going to come down the way the lab claims they will?
Ranking is happening in most directorates at the moment. Will this involve mid year raises and other incentives to try to stem the tide of talented people leaving the lab?
When is the merger of Chemistry and physics going to happen and what will the new directorate look like? And does it matter?!
Which of the 10 proposed LDRD strategic initiatives are going to be funded next year?
Reorganization is happening at NIF already. Heads will roll if the April 2009 deadline is not met. More money is needed for the completion of NIF and there's only one place to get it. You guessed it, from all the other directorates. After April of 2009 when all beams are at target center there should be another large lay-off, somewhere around 1,500 before Oct of 2009 unless they can beat the older population into submission and let attrition take its course. Construction will have been completed on time and on budget. Now it's time to cut NIF and the rest of the lab down to a skeleton crew getting rid of most of the OLD- FTE's and bringing in the young contract personnel. As you go out the gate don't feel bad. I can assure you your position will be filled by a contractor from an outside resource. They'll be paid more and ranked higher just as I notice is being done now, so don't look for advancement if you're so lucky to be selected to stay. The competition is fierce, especially when most of the high level jobs with a great deal of responsibility are being given to contract managers who have no ties to the UC-FTE-LLNL good old boy system. Has anyone taken note of that little fact or are most of you still in living in a haze. If so you're going to be surprised when you see how many FTE's have their salaries frozen and have become donor for those who'll eventually run LLNL.
WFO will be drying up as rates continue to increase - they can get 80% of their needs met elsewhere for 50% of what they pay LLNL, then pay LLNL for the remainder technology they cannot get elsewhere. This comes straight from a WFO sponsor.
Nothing I see is reversing the trend of tax, tax, and more tax to pay inflated management and other hangers-on's salaries and other costs. DO WE REALLY NEED 4 LAYERS of "Program Managers" who actually do nothing for the programs but suck budgets dry ????? Dammit.
None of the ULM really care since they are living high on the hog with their $250,000+ salaries, and golden parachutes when they bail out of this sinking ship.
You and I cannot stop negativism. As a BLOG screener, I must accept all sort of opinions, negative, positive, sort of positive etc...
If I accepted only positive opinions and feedback, there would only be a handful of posts here.
That is why I count on you, positive, truthful people to tip the balance to the positive side.
I hope you will take the challenge!
I hope you will take the challenge!"
July 27, 2008 5:08 PM
If they could they would but since there's nothing positve to report there won't be very many post of that type. It's the negative but factual that has kept this blog alive NOT the positive.
Some elements in NNSA HQ want to go further and merge SNL/CA into LLNL under a single LLNS LLC contract, with Sandia Corp as a LLNS LLC subcontractor. This is a long shot, with Lockheed-Martin owner of Sandia Corp putting up a major fight.
I had heard this rumor a couple of months ago...it went on to predict that LLNL might be merged with LANL under a common contractor. is that credible?
Recent talk on the street is that the FY09 WFO cost structure will be more expensive than FY08, which can only make WFO even more difficult to bring in.
Where have you been for the last 2-3 years. Has anything good happened at LLNL or LANL over that course of time? This blog isn't a science review magazine to boast someone's ego. It reports on the stupidity of NNSA, DOE, LLNS, the Senate, Congress and the President and the injustices done to thousands of people who over the last 30 - 50 years have given these places their lives only in return to get screwed as are all of the new hires from this day forward. It tells the public and the world what many don't want them to know. It tells the truth. Think of this blog as the LLNL employees national enquirer reporting on activities from the inside from the workers level not the Cinderella story ULM wants to portray.
Our upcoming milestones and the need for directorate-wide schedule flexibility motivated a re-evaluation of the trade-offs that were made when we decided to go to the alternate work schedules three years ago. Your support of this change will be greatly appreciated as we meet the challenges of completing NIF and building our programs for the future.
Specific instructions with respect to this transition will be forthcoming.
Come on LLNL ULM LLNS. Get your act together and put "everyone" on five 8's and if you need to get more work done put the required people on three 8 hour shifts, such as (7:00AM -3:30AM ) , ( 3:30PM- 12:00PM ) and (12:00PM - 7:00AM ). Is this so hard to figure out?
Graveyard shifts are extremely taxing on the individual, not to mention the individual's family. By revoking alternative work schedules, imposing strict work hours, and implementing overnight shifts you are driving in the wrong direction for retaining loyal, hard-working, talented employees. Short-term gain, bad management, pure and simple.
Actually I heard that it wasn't going to be the FY07 rates that they were aiming at but it would be closer to that than to FY08 rates. Doesn't really matter though. They need to cut taxes by 50%!
WFO is twice as expensive at LLNL as equivalent places eg. DoD labs for global security work. We can't compete.
The point is though that we pay a lot for NIF but if NIF succeeds we will all benefit. If NIF fails then the lab really will shut down.
If the army/air-force want something done at the lab then they should pay for it!!
From the looks of it, many in the research staff at LANL will be hitting up against the new "market survey" salary maximums and so they won't be seeing any raises for years to come. Bechtel was one of the key companies used in the computation for the salary market survey!
Is anything similar to the LANL research salary "reign-in" happening to the research staff left at LLNL?
Next question, are the safety teams on a "strike-like" mode of operation? Several IWS's at a standstill in the approval process. Or have they always been incapable of conducting reviews in a timely fashion?
July 29, 2008 9:12 AM
To expensive. LLNL needs a least a50% reduction in force and structures then maybe she'll get some WFO. I believe her days of existence are numbered. A major restructuring of this magnitude should take place just prior to the new work-force reaching age 50years. Can anyone think of a reason why <50 would be beneficial to the company?
I also see they just reduced pay in lieu of notice for flexes from 30 to 15 days. Nice! Thanks for the warm fuzzy feeling LLNS! I think that basically brings it in line with California so now that there are absolutely zero advnatages to staying at the lab, we will all just leave!
And there in lies the difference between here and LANL which the lab still doesn't get. We can all go and get jobs in silicon valley and surrounding area. The lab needs to compete or die. LANL has no competition from local employers yet DOE/NNSA treats us the same!
Moses move completion of NIF from April 2009 to December of 2008
Emergency AD meeting with Miller with concerns of being $60M in the hole before FY 08 ends
After completion of NIF in December a selected bunch of employees will no longer needed and have no place to go
LLNL still to expensive to get WFO. Can only be resolved by reduction of man-power and structures
LLNL restructuring in process to posture themselves for a RIF in all directorates
Operating budget for FY-09 looks more like FY-07 rather than FY-06 as desired
Increase in taxes and overhead rates
NIF fails, close the gates
As time goes on I'm sure this list of events will grow and as it does so will the probability of another RIF in December of 2008 or February of 2009. I doubt there's 1,500 employees who're age 62 where normal attrition will account for the number's of warm bodies they'll need to displace to squeak by on FY-09 funding but who know's maybe the war will end, the economy will turn around, fuel prices will go back to $2.00 a gallon and homes will once again be worth investing in before the November election. But remember this is only a rumor and rumors never come true.
I could not agree more! At LANL, it is working at LANL as is or moving out of state.
Here, there will come a time where attrition will reach record levels.
The rules are different in the bay area.
Do LLNS know that? yes! but they dont care! They are in the business of making a profit, not making you and I happy.
Mid-term performance reports will be similar to that of LANL.
Do DOE know that? yes, in advance!
but they dont care!
I am not sure I understand what you are trying to say. If you are suggesting workers 50 years old or older should be sent out the gate then you do not have a clue. People in their 50's are in the prime of their life and are very valuable to employers. LLNS management does not understand this as many employees 50 and older were laid off in May. There are laws against age discrimination.
She must have been a Valuable Employee to free money and a long vacation too. I wonder if they'll do the same for all of the others that may come back. Thanks for posting this event
That is not LLNS goal. The goal is to get the job done on schedule regardless of the consequences and then look at who's needed after the project is done. If you have done your part and gotten paid to do it you have nothing to complain about. Now move on to the next job and do it all over again. It's simple. Three shifts, more bang for the buck, increased profits, great evaluations and wallah; you have $80M in the bank $$$ . What's other project do you want done on time, sir.
Heads will roll whether or not the deadline is met. The budget can't support the staffing level beyond that. Good news is Ed will push his staff so hard, they'll die in place....
My mail service is also minimal these days. Is this because of the recent layoffs, or because pertinent information is now being transmitted via email?
Will it be: We're good for the rest of FY-08 and FY-09, or
Will it be: We've gotten a sneak peak at the FY-09 budget and once again I'm saddened to say we're going to have to immediately institute another 3161 resulting in additional deep cuts in personnel both FTE's and Supplemental labor. This isn't easy for me but the mission of the laboratory must be met by DOE and NNSA mandate. Again we're experiencing unforeseen taxes and overhead burden due to miscalculations during the transition. It's once again that time of the year when we must balance the books by what ever means possible. With manpower being the easiest avenue and most logical path to pursue you should brace yourselves for the next wave of lay-offs. Are there any questions? ( a long period of silence ) NO? Okay lets get back to work and remember safety first. You're my family and I feel your pain
It's the 7th NOT the 17th and poster August 2, 2008 9:21 PM, the NIF people have come to realize this from the day they were made exempt from the RIF but it has not altered their dedication to the job one bit. They are working just as hard today as they did before the RIF and most likely will continue to do so until the job is done simply because they have pride and are self motivated. For this Ed Moses knows what he has and has chosen to keep them. I only wish they'd give each NIF employee a $10K bonus check on April 10th 2009 for doing such a good job. Again the people of NIF understand if there's no NIF there's no LLNL.
In the end you may be correct in saying most NIF employees on the construction side will be displaced but that's how it will be on every job at LLNS from now on especially when ULM of LLNS / NIF comes to realize the cost of NIF operations and maintenance on this beast. This of course will result in less money for other projects and most of what does come in will be funneled towards NIF to fulfills its mission.
Actually this can be interpreted as a reason for why LANLites should be paid more, not less. LANL has to recruit scientists from out of state, and any recruit with half a brain knows that if they get laid off at LANL, they'll have to move out of state again. With no premium to make it worth their while, why take a job in a company town where the company is in trouble?
That's just life. Why pay more in a state where the cost of living is about 1/2 that of California. LANLmites just need to get up early in the morning and commute 30-50 miles one way to work and all will be well instead of thinking they should be living on top of the hill in their country club environment as if they had some entitlement as do the welfare populace of that state. No chance of equal or more pay for doing the same job. Lay-offs and are a way of life in today's world. It a legal means for corporate America and the government to regulate the classes.
Many of these lay offs were probably not legal. It is a fact that seniority rules were not followed in some departments and some work groups.
Many older workers with over 25 years of seniority were targeted and laid off so that LLNL management could keep younger employees. Seems to me that might be age discrimination. Seems to me that might be illegal.
LLNL management should be held accountable if it can be proved that they did not follow policies and procedures or that they did not follow the law. They should have to compensate the career employees that were unfairly and illegally laid off.
Again we have a fine display of the decision making process of the new management team. Tell me again why the less expensive UC management structure was deemed inferior to the new "private sector" (cough...crony capitalist...cough cough) management team.
Go for the $89M + fee's as compensation plus full reinstatement, back pay, no time in grade loss and full medical benifits for life. Good luck.
No one in the LLNS ULM cares and LSO acts as if its business as usually with their audits and demands for contract deliverables... I think the lab is just going to implode one day soon... Support services are at a bare bone level - I've been waiting over a month for computer support to fix a software application... and I keep hearing that there are only one or two qualified electricians for the whole site.
LLNS (using money from its fee) should push/lobby Congress hard to diversify the lab's customer base - 1/5 NNSA, 1/5 DOD, 1/5 Dept Homeland Security, 1/5 DOE Office of Science, 1/5 WFO (Government and Private Industry along the PNL/Battelle model).
I actually just got a job offer and presented it to my directorate to see what they would do. I was told a bunch of blah about how they wanted to keep me but they basically offered me nothing! It was actually quite shocking but along the same lines of the "all talk, no walk" stance that management has shown so far.
The lab will lose approx. $1.3M in WFO funding if I leave.
And they don't care. If they can not claim it, they are not going to want it. Have a good day and move on down the road.
Too bad some of that new $46 million fee isn't poured into improving working conditions at the lab, and trying to make LLNL a special/attractive place work.
Remember when the lab had a pool, several softball fields, an employee store, subsidized cafeterias... If LLNS just put 10% of its annual fee back into employee work-life initiatives, LLNL could once again be an attractive place to work.
You said:"Remember when the lab had a pool, several softball fields, an employee store, subsidized cafeterias.."
Those things are nice but would not have helped keep many people.
Dignity, career development, better pay, teamwork, benefits are more important!
That is why I left.
Hellooo, is there anybody in there? The idea here is for Rechtal and associates to make as much profits as they can with the least amount of expenditures where the employees, meaning those who actually work for a living have their duties doubled up and their salaries frozen until they're burned out and die due to excessive pressures most likely resulting in a heart attack while on the job. This leaves LLNS free from having to pay the employee a dime. This is good for LLNS since you'll be leaving your money behind for those who remain to live happily ever after. Their mode of operation is easy to understand if you think like a corporation who's trying to make billions of dollars to line your pockets. Simply put the labor laws of today are just a legal form of Mafia style extortion without the brass knuckles, guns or the use of 2 x 4 used to break people legs on the curbside of the road until they got compliance. The bad news is, the union backs are broken and there's lot of cheap labor available from all over the world to do your job for a lot less. Welcome to global economics.
"Dignity, career development, better pay, teamwork, benefits..."
These all left LLNL when UC left us, and I don't see them coming back.
LLNS (Bechtel) does not care at all about these things or LLNL employees... they look at LLNL as a "project" to be managed and employees as expendable capital, where UC looked at LLNL as a UC site and employees part of the UC family.
You clearly do not understand that funding at the Lab comes from lobbying sponsors and Congressional staff members, not from being on scientific advisory committees.
It's obvious to everyone who has any mind that the two PAD directors are Bozos.
The current rumor that the head of S&T PAD will be out in a few months. They could not get rid of her right away due to the wording of the LLNS contract.
What...the lab spends thousands if not millions a year in lobbying various Federal agencies to fund various projects at LLNL. I think every division has people they rely on to carry out this function. The only new twist is this cost even more money.
So the point is then that the S&T leader left and they spun it to sound good given that she wasn't really allowed to leave due to the LLNL contract. Great!
I haven't heard more on the rumor that the deputy S&T leader is leaving too. To PNNL apparently.
So what did people think of the comment that the new acting S&T leader made Re: the question about retention? That is, he basically just said, if we do good science, people will want to stay.
p.s. I'm leaving!!
Good science? LLNS is killing science! LLNS has no vested interest in science but they have one in
consolidation and reduction of DOE sites!
LLNL is bared in the contract with DOE from lobbying...
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H-38 LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS
The Contractor (LLNS, LLC) agrees that none of the funds obligated on this award shall be expended, directly or indirectly, to influence congressional action on any legislation or appropriation matters pending before Congress, other than to communicate to Members of Congress as described in 18 U.S.C. 1913. This restriction is in addition to those prescribed elsewhere in statute and regulation.
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Trying to get WFO from other agencies is not considered lobbying.
Cold war seems to be starting up again and LLNL is headed south... what a tragic state of affairs. This national jewel is well on the way to becoming obsolete at a critical point in time. Greedy uncaring fools! God will reward you in time.
Are you sure?....It seems better spent building a fence around NIF (which looks marvelous by the way) and bulldozing the rest. Why waste the effort?
I am wondering where you heard that LLNS wants to spend 10 million on upgrading the site appearance.
Since January, the Plant Engineering Department has been laying off Flex Term and Career employees in the shops that maintain the sites appearance. I am talking about the Gardeners, the Labor Shop, the Paint Shop, etc. These employees had many years of dedicated service to LLNL and were told to get out and don't come back.
Does it make any sense to lay off these valuable employees and then turn around and spend millions of dollars to improve the appearance of the north side of the site ?
YES, YES, YES. Apparently you don't understand how it's going to work or the LLNS contract.
Simply put, ANY service that can be done by an outside resource on a contract basis will be cheaper for LLNS simply because it only cost the price of doing the job. LLNS doesn't have to pay into pension plan, a 401K, or give benefits of any sort to the workers. It's no different when you hire someone to do a job around your home for a fee. You own them nothing but the final check when the job is done. The name of the game for LLNS is to dump ANYONE or ANY service that cost them money to assure they look good to DOE securing their big pay, bonus checks and salaries. ULM is all about themselves --- NOT -- you. . You're nothing more than a temporary employee and you're on the wrong side of the fence if you're looking for financial gains and security. What employees need to be watching for now is LLNS to be awarding contracts to their friends and acquaintances that were once done by UC / FTE's. I'm sure as time goes on you'll find a lot of favoritism, inside trading and possibly kick backs. People like FR and company didn't get to the top and make $437K + a year by being honest straightforward people with no political ties. FR is nothing more than a government hired contractor who uses less than lethal laws to terminate his opponents then receives an envelope containing his payoff for doing such a great job.
I've heard these cost will passed directly on to the divisions and PIs running labs. Your lab sink stops-uo, the locks break, you need mopping......just provide an account number and we'll get back to you!
As you know we already put out our own trash, clean our own floors and carpets and now to save a buck you will need to be a plumber, locksmith, carpenter, janitor - scientist. This is what LLNS means by diverse scientific environment for postdocs?
It's called the self-help program. Didn't your parents teach you anything or were you one of those poor unfortunate children that was fed with a silver spoon. Stop your crying and be glad you have a job in todays economy.
Yeah....bring back the silverspoon. You seem to totally miss the point, LLNS charges sponsors for services that are no longer provided to the scientist. As part of their daily duty the scientist do less science and more other non-science realted activities. Or was your point to just antagonize others?
What does that mean? Less LDRD dollars or no LDRD tax or less WFO?
I heard that career employees that management wants to kick out the gate will no longer be eligible for up to a maximum of 26 weeks severance pay. I heard the maximum severance will be 16 weeks pay. Is this true ?
Also, on the landscaping, I am sick about how NIF has gotten reduced G&A for their program but yet gets millions for landscaping. Yes, millions. I don't think it is $10M, but it has already been over $2M. NIF laughs about how nice their landscaping is compared to the rest of the lab. I understand they want to be a flagship for the future of the lab. I applaud their vision, but despair that it is taking form on the breaking backs of the rest of the laboratory. I see yard trash all over the lab, lawns might get mowed once in 2 months - weeks are knee high in places. We are becoming a two-tier society here: NIF and the rest of the lab. When an WFO or non-NIF project pays 32% G&A and NIF pays 10.8% G&A - I just don't understand.
Heard NIF is planning a big celebration when they turn the full power on next year. Going to spend a lot of money patting themselves on the back. I don't want to even be there to see their smug faces. NIF I wish you would just fence off your area and become a separate lab. Then you will have to rob yourself to stay afloat and look pretty.
I'm not saying that layoffs for poor performance are wrong, but the stealthy way in which it is now being done at LANL is creepy.
The message coming from LANS to the research staff seems to be one of "Please take a hint and leave this place." LANS primary concern is clearly the current operating budget and not the pitiful morale of the remaining scientific staff.
What's there to understand. If NIF fails there's no more LLNL. Didn't you get this message a few years back. The deadline is closing fast and NIF must work. If it doesn't they'll be RIF's across the lab like you've never seem before.
Already heard of a couple of division leader shockers - we can't mention names here though.
Mmmmm I luuurve org charts!
10 beam
I'm doing my part - I'm counting down the days. Better pay, more vacation, hiring bonus, chance at an additional pension, don't have to move - life is sweet!
"At this rate in conjunction with the departure of the ones who're between 55 - 65which going to leave over the next 8 -10 years....."
Anyone who stays past 60, with the exception of a few late to join LLNL, will be losing pension with every year they stay. Age factor tops out at 60 under UC or TCP-1.
You don't lose anything from the pension if you stay past 60. Your increases in pension payouts just slow down a bit.
Instead of earning both age and service credit with each passing year (about +5% per year with 30 yrs service and age 60), you'll just earn the service credit (about +2.5% per year). Still, after 30 years at LLNL and given the new LLNS management, most people will be more than ready to leave once they finally reach the age of 60.
As for the young and mid-career staff, they all seem eager to bail out right now. There's not much of a long term future working for LLNL. You can probably count on LLNS to eventually freeze the current pension as a cost saving measure once a few more years have past.
I guess I didn't really say what I meant to say - if you retire at 62 instead of 60, you get more years of service and MAYBE a higher HAPC, and a COLA. So yes, it's a higher annual pension - but you gotten it for 2 fewer years. So the total pension payout will more than likely be less.
-- 9:53 AM
Well stated, 9:53 AM. I share your views about LLNS management. I've never seen a place where managerial incompetence is so highly celebrated and yet so richly rewarded. Getting out of LLNL is a great stress reliever. Working under LLNS management is no longer worth it, no matter what they pay the working staff.
After NIF comes on line there will be lay-offs every year for five consecutive years.
I haven't heard anything about impending layoffs - I doubt that's true. Lot's of people are leaving on their own at the moment - the lab has a problem keeping people now, not the problem of needing to get rid of people. In many cases departments are understaffed and there is enough funding for the next few months, at least.
Keep watching the newapaper. I hear the IG is on site and the Feds are involved in this little matter. If anyone finds the article in the newspaper please post it here for all to read.
It's not about a RIF at all. I'd ask around if you want to know more or look for an article in the newspaper. The local newspaper usually finds out more than any of the people that work there ever do and it's more accurate. The people are usually the last to know.