Waite: High-skilled union work must remain in Niskayuna 

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WEIGHING IN – When it comes to negotiating federal contracts worth billions of dollars, Fluor Marine Propulsion is happy to accept support from lobbyists and other high-powered players.

But apparently the massive government contractor doesn’t like the idea of some of its employees getting a little help of their own in the form of organized labor. 

Two can play this game. If Fluor Marine Propulsion insists on shipping union jobs out of state, perhaps its upcoming contract negotiations — worth roughly $8.5 billion to continue to develop naval nuclear propulsion technology, provide technical support, and train nuclear operators to safely run our nation’s submarine and aircraft carrier fleets — deserve to face strong resistance from federal leaders. 

Here’s what’s been going on. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) union Local 147 has historically represented about 80 workers at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL), which has operations in Niskayuna and West Milton in Saratoga County. The lab is contracted by Fluor Marine Propulsion to work on the country’s nuclear naval fleet.

As far back as April of last year, local union leaders began talking with Knolls management about a troubling development. At that time, Fluor Marine Propulsion had apparently begun assigning union jobs to non-unionized employees at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. 

These reassignments, which could result in at least 35 skilled jobs lost in the Capital Region, were apparently made on the down low. And these reassignments apparently came despite the fact that Local 147’s contract recognizes that the work — design modeling, drafting, graphical design, animation work and other engineering tasks — should be performed by union members, according to union leadership. 

This information was included in a March 24 news release from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office. When I connected Monday with Local 147 President Charles Trembley, he referred me to the details in the release, saying he was restricted in commenting extensively due to ongoing negotiations. 

Fluor Marine Propulsion, which did not respond to my requests for comment, has apparently told union leaders that the moves are a new approach to the assignments, with Knolls and Bettis lumped into one company that’s part of the larger Fluor Marine Propulsion organization. Fluor Marine Propulsion itself is a subsidiary of Fluor, a Texas-based corporation that last year ranked 259 among the Fortune 500 companies and has 40,000 employees, according to the company website. 

Fluor Marine Propulsion can attempt to justify these moves all it wants, but its motivations are obvious. The company is trying to limit the power of workers, and it’s trying to do so silently. 

Now, the company has been found out, and it’s been found out in a big way. New York Sens. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, along with U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, whose district includes Niskayuna and West Milton, have written to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to demand these union jobs not leave the Capital Region. 

The federal leaders are arguing the reassignments not only violate Fluor Marine Propulsion’s contract with the local union, but that the contractor is also flouting President Joe Biden’s worker empowerment taskforce’s recommendations that federal agencies and federal contractors protect union work. Fluor Marine Propulsion is not a federal entity, but it is entirely federally funded, the leaders’ letter to Granholm notes. 

The Knolls situation comes at a time when high-skilled jobs in upstate New York are at risk. For instance, microchip manufacturer GlobalFoundries last fall announced layoffs that ultimately led to a hiring freeze and more than 200 workers being let go from the company’s facility in Malta. 

GlobalFoundries’ announcement came after it reported record quarterly profits and stood to benefit from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act, a measure heavily touted by Schumer, Gillibrand and Tonko.  

The Knolls situation also follows reporting by the Times Union earlier this month that GE Vernova, GE’s energy business spinoff, will be headquartered in Boston rather than Schenectady. As of yet, this isn’t expected to impact jobs in the area, but it hardly inspires confidence for local workers.  

Giant companies, from Amazon to GE to Walmart, are always going to do what’s best for their bottom lines. They’ll move workers or change assignments in a heartbeat if it means saving a buck. 

Part of the swelling support for labor we’ve seen recently, with pushes to unionize nationwide by professions as disparate as baristas, warehouse workers and college professors, is no doubt a reaction to worker sentiments that their rights are being sacrificed to benefit the 1%. We can’t accept workers being continually bullied. 

That’s why if the federal leaders who signed this letter to Secretary Granholm pleading to keep the Knolls work in New York are serious, they must also be serious about another point made in the letter.

The letter notes the Knolls issue comes ahead of Fluor Marine Propulsion’s contract with the DOE being up for renewal in September. The renewed contract would pay roughly $8.5 billion over the next five years following the $8.5 billion in federal funding the company has already received over the last five years, the letter reads.

“This comes after multiple years where we have fought to defend and fully fund this program within the Department of Energy and Department of Defense budgets,” the letter says.

Now, the elected officials are saying any future contract must stipulate that work promised to unionized New Yorkers remains with unionized New Yorkers: “We also request that the [Department of Energy] work with FMP in the renewal process to ensure that the company will maintain this fully federally funded workforce in New York going forward.”

Going forward, it’s time for everyone — the Fluor Marine Propulsion leaders and the politicians alike — to keep their promises. 

Columnist Andrew Waite can be reached at [email protected] and at 518-417-9338. Follow him on Twitter @UpstateWaite. 

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Categories: Andrew Waite, Business, Email Newsletter, News, News, Opinion, Opinion, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Your Niskayuna