Inel Workers Unhappy At Plans For Unpaid Leave

More than one-third of the federal oversight employees at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory have been ordered to take six days off without pay by July to trim administrative expense.

Congress cut the Department of Energy’s departmental administration fund. That means 150 of the 450 Energy employees at INEL paid through that fund will have to take unpaid leave.

Other workers funded directly through department programs such as waste management are not affected.

“Everybody has a different response,” department spokesman Brad Bugger said. “For me personally, it’s tough to take six days without pay. It’s not something I’m looking forward to.”

The response from a union representing workers was to blame the department’s Washington officials for cutting field offices when headquarters was the real target of Congress.

“That really is to preserve staff at headquarters,” said Dennis Morey, local president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.

Officials at headquarters could not be reached for comment because of the blizzard that has kept them away from work this week.

A Dec. 22 memo from Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary said the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters would reduce staff by 15 percent.