Why I cannot trust LLNS?

Someone anonymously suggested this topic. Go for it!

Flex Term and Contract Labor Explained

I guess he got the point.

How Do You Compare

Please post anon and ask your audience to pass the link along.

This was sent to me by an unknown contributor. After viewing the movie I thought about how minuscule our problems are compared to what you're about to view. While watching I asked myself, am I half the person this man is. The answer wasn't only no, but, no way could I do this. Please take the time to rank yourself and let us know how you compare. Enjoy

One Stong Individual

If all else fails cut and paste the URL and then download the video to your hard drive and then watch. Please watch the entire lecture, it's not that long and I'm sure you can spare a few minutes out of your life. It's was an eye opener for me.

LLNS- New Involuntary Seperation Plan 2008

Watch the water. If you have the ability to stop frame or slow motion look at this movie frame by frame starting just as the jumper begins to enter the water, then note what happens as he begins his rebound. The movie bares what I think is an appropriate title since this is how many people fell on a day to day basis at LLNL. This my friends is a real ISP aka Involuntary Separation Plan.

No severance ( pay ) here, or for that matter needed. Involuntary Separation Plan 2008 You may have to wait for download or right click. Watch carefully. This could be your severance pay in lieu of notice.

NOTE: You may have to download Windows Media Player 11 for slow motion functionality feature.

Unemployment for VSSOP'er

The answer to the question of unemployment for VSSOP participants is: NO!

I just got my Notice of Determination from EDD this afternoon. It says that under Section 1256 I'm disqualified because I voluntarily quit my most recent work without good cause. (Note that they call the VSSOP a SEVERANCE BONUS PROGRAM.) I am disqualified until I perform services in bona fide employment for which I receive remuneration equal to or in excess of five times my weekly benefit amount. Of course, I guess I'd then have to be laid of from that job to qualify. So they really didn't say anything about waiting until you exhaust the severance.

Or I can appeal, but I don't see much point in that. Prior to the VSSOP, I tried to figure out if I would qualify, but I couldn't get that info for certain from the EDD web site, and calling them was pointless, since they wouldn't talk to you anyway (long story.) I had a feeling, though, that I wouldn't qualify due to the fact that I was the cause of the separation.

While they never lied to us, LLNS HR made it sound as if it was a possibility. They'd only tell you that you were on your own, but they'd never fought it before. Well, thanks again, LLNS. Just another case of partial information or disinformation.

They, in fact, knew all along that the VSSOP was designed to exclude unemployment. That's why we were made to resign instead of "volunteering to be laid off" ala LANL. Why didn't they just come out and say it?

It would have helped to tide things over until I can find another job. Maybe I should have had something lined-up prior to taking the VSSOP, but I just had to get out of there to preserve my mental and physical well being.

If anyone either qualifies, hears of someone who qualified, or places an appeal and wins, I'd sure like to hear about it.

Rule benefits some sick lab workers

Contributed anonymously, this article:

By Betsy Mason, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 04/07/2008 02:31:24 AM PDT


Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory workers who became ill from on-the-job exposure to radiation will now have their compensation claims fast-tracked through the Department of Labor.

Effective today, a new rule added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act will make the claims process significantly easier for some claimants, including some who have already been denied compensation.

Workers who spent at least 250 days in an area monitored for radiation at the lab or at the lab's Site 300 near Tracy any time between 1950 and 1973, and later were diagnosed with one of 22 different cancers, will automatically qualify for a $150,000 lump-sum payment and have their medical expenses covered from the date they first filed their claim.

"Anyone who gets sick while in the service of our national interest should receive the benefits they deserve," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo. "And even more, these critical services must be delivered quickly."

A petition for special status for Livermore workers filed by Raili Glenn of Pleasanton, whose husband David died in 2005 from bone marrow cancer after 25 years at the lab, was approved by an advisory board in January, because of the lack of complete records for work at the lab prior to 1973.

Under the new ruling, the DOL will take another look at all claims from Livermore lab workers that are currently open or have been denied to see if they qualify for approval.

Previously, these workers had to endure a lengthy and complicated claims process that required them to prove they received a high enough level of radiation to cause their specific cancer.

This often involved years of back-and-forth with the labor department and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; the gathering of medical, employment and exposure records; phone interviews; and appeals.

Many workers have waited four years or more for a decision on their claims. Many have been denied, some died before a decision was made, and some are still waiting. High levels of frustration and feelings of betrayal are widespread among the claimants, many of whom are in the throes of battling cancer while trying to prove their cases.

Of the 1,266 claims that have been filed to date by Livermore lab workers, 818 have been decided and 67 percent of those decisions have been denials.

Now some of these workers, or their surviving family members, can skip the most difficult step of determining the level of exposure. All they need is proof that they worked at the lab in an area that was monitored for radiation.

Groups of workers at two dozen Department of Energy sites across the country, including the Nevada Test Site and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have also been given this special status.

"While this designation is certainly a step in the right direction, I'm concerned that many people are being left out," said Rob Schwartz, staff attorney for lab watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs. "For instance, employees who worked in administrative areas will not be covered" by the new rule.

Workers who were at the Livermore lab after 1973 or who worked at Sandia/California or Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories will still need to complete the entire claims process, though there are currently petitions to grant more workers special, fast-track status.

Betsy Mason covers science and the national laboratories. Reach her at 925-952-5026 or bmason@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Did VSSOP takers get unemployment benefits?

Anonymously asked:

I was wondering if anyone knows whether any VSSOPers have qualified to receive unemployment benefits?
I wanted to take the VSSOP but also wanted to receive unemployment so I passed on volunteering to leave in March. I am curious how it worked out for those who left. Does anyone know?