Locked out guards at Hanford nuclear site reach contract deal on 23.5% pay increase

KENNEWICK – The Hanford guards will return to work at the Hanford nuclear site 47 days after they were locked out as their contract expired.

On Thursday, the Hanford Guards Union approved a contract proposal after three earlier failed votes.

The new collective bargaining agreement is beneficial to both parties, said Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, the Department of Energy contractor that employs the Hanford Patrol guards, Thursday night.

HMIS will call guards back to work starting Sunday, it said.

“As we move forward, we remain committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive environment for all our employees,” it said.

The new contract provides a 23.5% wage increase over about 4.5 years.

Under the proposal approved by the guards, the wage increase is adjusted to move more of the increase to earlier years of the new contract. But guards will not have a cost of living increase in the contract or a $2,000 signing bonus.

The guards also made no progress on a goal of medical autonomy that some union members wanted after COVID vaccinations were required during the pandemic.

“It was a compromise,” said Dave Donovan, vice president of the International Guards Union of America Regional Council 1 and a Hanford guard. “It was not what we were hoping for.”

The union had fought for increased pay due to high inflation since its last contract agreement and as compensation for new and more intrusive federal requirements for Human Responsibility Program certification for those responsible for security of nuclear materials, the union said.

Monitoring of guards’ personal spending and travel has been increased under the new requirements.

The union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after the lock out, saying HMIS was refusing to bargain or was bargaining in bad faith.

It will continue to pursue that case, Donovan said.

HMIS said before the last contract proposal was voted down by union members on Jan. 3 that discussions had reached an impasse and it was prepared to order guards back to work under the terms of the DOE contractor’s “best and final” offer made Dec. 5.

However, Local 21 asked that the parties return to mediated negotiations.

Discussions were held Tuesday and Wednesday, with union negotiators making a new proposal. After HMIS agreed, the proposal still needed approval through a vote of union members.

HMIS locked out nonmanagement Hanford guards on the day before Thanksgiving as the union contract expired. HMIS declined to approve additional extensions.

The union members have received no pay since then and have been concerned that the Human Responsibility Program security certifications they are required to have to work as guards at the site were at risk of lapsing during the lockout.

Once certifications are lost, they are rarely restored, the union said.

Since the guards were locked out of work, HMIS has been using guards brought in from other DOE sites, Hanford Patrol members who are salaried and not covered by the union, and former Hanford Patrol members to provide security.

HMIS has said that the nuclear site “remains safe and secure, staffed by experienced and qualified exempt security police officers and active security professionals.”

The Hanford Patrol, an armed protective force, provides security for the 580-square-mile site adjacent to Richland.

Duties include protecting radioactive materials and classified materials, providing active shooter response, and deterring and responding to radiological and toxicological sabotage events by terrorists or others.

The Hanford nuclear site produced plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War. It still has radioactive materials and contamination as environmental cleanup continues.

The number of Hanford guards is not made public for security reasons.