The Pantex nuclear weapons facility in Amarillo is charged with maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
But for the first time since 1970, the workforce at Pantex is on strike. Nearly 1,200 employees have been off the job for three weeks now.
Aaron Davis, public safety reporter for the Amarillo Globe-News, talks to the Standard about the employee’s grievances.
“They were actually offered a three percent increase in August,” Davis says about workforce wages. “What they were really concerned about was the benefits themselves,” especially health care.
A proposed contract would have reduced benefits – eliminating defined benefits for new hires, increasing costs on prescriptions, medical coverage, and health insurance for retired employees.
Hear more in the audio player above.
