LLNL - The True Story -

Anonymously contributed: 130 Former Lawrence Livermore Lab Employees File Lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court Alleging Illegal Age Discrimination OAKLAND, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 21, 2009, the Law Firm of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer filed an age discrimination lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court Case Number 09453596 on behalf of 130 former employees against Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) , the private company co-owned by Bechtel and the University of California that operates the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. On May 22 and 23, 2008, LLNS laid off approximately 440 employees, the vast majority of whom were the Lab's most senior, experienced employees. California law prohibits discrimination in the workplace against any employee who is over the age of 40 years old, based upon that employee's age. 130 of those employees have retained Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer to challenge the layoffs. These...

Anonymously contributed: This is the type of BS that's going on behind closed doors under the Obamanation reign. You can say goodbye to your retirement and here's where you can find the author's name . IMHO it's time to end the terror this Socialist Republic of California is bringing upon the working class and put idiots like this and his followers out to pasture for good, by any means you feel fit for the circumstance. I for one will turn my head the other way. It's time for tea party's to start forming across this nation that'll emulate those of the original Boston tea party, forcefully leading to what in todays PC world will be known as a _"reorganization"_ of the entire system, and the removal of all those who endorse taxation without representation. Authors of bills like this evidently view the common man as a peasants to be used as an endless source of income. This income for the state in their view is to secure what they deem as necessitie...

Anonymous wants to know how the folks that were laid off almost a year ago are doing? Where are you now? Are you happier? Going through hardship? drop a line!

Anonymously contributed: I've found the perfect theme song to be played at NIF's May 29th Dedication just before the V V I P takes the grand stand NIF Dedication Theme Song

One of the rays of hope I saw in this privatization was the fall of the good ol' boys' culture and seeing the Lab run like a real private company. This culture is seen in the up hill battle to consolidate services and insfrastructure due to lack of cooperation. Publicly, there is lip service on the merits of consolidation. Privately, many divisions and groups run like companies within the company, looking out for themselves and not LLNL's benefit. The culture is seen in the egotistic attitude of "we are smarter than the other groups and departments". COMP for example has an incredible prefrence for COMP people when hiring, regardless of qualifications. Just count how many EBAs were shoved in jobs they had no interest in last year while they were plenty of qualified people from other directorates. I had a manager tell me once about another manager, when I offered a way to resolve an issue for the other Manager:"Let her worry about climbing her own hill". ...

Wake up, wake up! With the state of laboratory, in terms of morale and what LLNS has been doing with retirement benefits, is any one surprised? The laboratory was turned over to private hands. As wall street items have demonstrated (think AIG and others), top personnel only consider their best interests and making a buck. The LLNS managers now operate under a different environment than past LLNL management. Concern for the people working for them? Be serious, does that have anything to do with making a buck, or 'stream lining'. That emotion of 'caring' just gets in the way. I would imagine that if a manger shows that they 'care' about their people, they have started the walk down the plank. In terms of the retiree benefits that LLNS immediately went after. It is doubtful if LLNS sees them as people. Most likely the retirees are seen as a left over 'nuisance', to be dealt with according. The loyalty of past workers, and that of current workers i...

Anonymous said... Managers seem to think it is their right to be a manager, no matter how incompetent and useless they are. Take some of the capable younger managers and promote them up and layoff the excess useless managers. Then we can get things done around here. May 18, 2009 11:14 PM

Anonymous said... After years of maintaining an internal protective force, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is planning to open up its security work to subcontractors for the first time. The lab was the site of an embarrassing security blunder in April of 2008, when a team of mock terrorists were able to steal a cache of special nuclear material during a force-on-force practice exercise, drawing criticism from Congress and government watchdog groups. A spokesman for Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, the Bechtel-led consortium that assumed management of the laboratory in October of 2007, said the potential change had nothing to do with the recent security problems, however. The lab announced its intentions to solicit protective forces bids in a May 12 notice. "This has been under discussion since the contract to manage the lab was put out to bid," LLNL spokesman Don Johnston said. “The thinking is that having a contractor would provide business advantages and fl...

Anonymous said... Morale is so low management has resorted to offering an incentive to get employees to volunteer for family day. One of the incentives is a lunch meeting with ULM. I would call that a disincentive but at least we know what ULM thinks of itself. May 18, 2009 12:58 PM

So, did anyone else notice the "free" Hand Sanitizer the lab is handing out is EXPIRED?

Anonymous said... What is with all of the tree trimming, road repaving, tree planting, shrub pruning and mountains of tan bark? Does anyone know how much this costing the programs? May 14, 2009 6:54 AM

Anonymous said... Would you recommend LLNL as an employer now? May 12, 2009 7:29 AM

Anonymous said... Have you taken IS0012-W and seen the new work control program? This is another step towards stopping all work except bureaucratic paperwork. What group of idiots sold this? May 11, 2009 5:20 PM

Anonymous said... The proposed LLNL 2010 budget is down 7 million from last year. Not bad but will Congress approve it? Repubs are already whining that the cuts aren't deep enough. May 7, 2009 5:55 PM

Anonymous said... A post on the LANL blog says that there will be 3% salary package this year with non-retroactive raises coming in January. May 4, 2009 5:08 PM

Anonymous said... NIF is dumping people. Unknown why but rumor has it that they are getting rid of dead wood. May 4, 2009 5:06 PM

From: UPTE-CWA Reply-To: info@upte-cwa.org Important Notice: Complete the UPTE-CWA health and safety survey today! UPTE-CWA E-Bulletin: May 05, 2009 Contents: (1) TX/RX Strike Threat Forces Bargaining to Start, But UC Trumps Up Dismissal of UPTE Negotiator and Continues Unilateral Changes (2) Complete Health and Safety Survey Today to Support Contract Demands (3) UC/Bechtel Eliminates Retiree Health Benefits For Livermore, Who’s Next? (4) Educate Yourself About May 19 Special Election Ballot Initiatives (1) Berkeley TX/RX Strike Forces Bargaining to Start, But UC Trumps Up Dismissal of UPTE Negotiator and Continues Unilateral Changes We have good news and bad news. The good news is that after 13 months of bargaining, UC has finally put a proposal on the table that is more than 0%. UC is offering 1% for each of the three years of the contract, plus a step increase in the third year. All increases in the last year depend on the state budget. So with a poor state budget, this offer really...

Anonymous said... "US unemployment rate" chart looks parabolic: Unemployment Not a good time to be looking for a job.

Anonymous said... I received from LLNS my TCP1 (Defined Benefit Pension) summary notice as required by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Since the plan has only been around for a year and half there's limited information and its from Jan 1, 2008. As of that date there were 3927 in the plan - 3915 active and 12 retired/separated but not getting benefits yet. Based on what was in the "Funding Target Attainment Percentage" table the plan was at 209.62% of its funding target - $1.65 Billion in assets and $790 Million in liabilities. 109% more than what is required to pay lifetime pensions to all the participants in TCP1. There was another section in the summary text called "Fair Market Value of Assets" and it was said to offer a "clearer picture of a plan's funded status as of a given point in time." This was as of Dec 31, 2008 - $1.3 Billion in assets and $882 Million in liabilities. My calculation puts TCP1 at 147.91% of necessary funding or 47% ov...

DOE must radically refocus!!!

Anonymous said... Just went to renew my meds, and contrary to what I was told, the copayments are double or triple. I am a retiree- took the buyout, and glad I did! Before, meds were a 90 day supply for one copayment. We were told that the 2009 copayment would only cover 30 days of meds, unless we used Kaiser's mail program, in which case it would cover 90 days, like before. But Kaiser now charges 2 copayments, even if you use the mail. Now $10 for generics, and $25 for non. NOTE: You gotta fight Kaiser for everything? At this rate many generics cost less if you forget about your coverage, and just pay the cost of the meds, at Kaisers' member rate. Also ask for a whole bottle. Atenolol costs $10 for 50 pills, (100 days), or $10.50 for 100. Others are similar. Q. Have others had this problem? How can they possibly say this is "substantially equivalent?" What can we do? Thanks. May 2, 2009 10:56 AM