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The Coalition for LANL Excellence (CLE) was formed in mid-December 2004 to alert the community of Los Alamos and surrounding communities in northern New Mexico to the need for public comment on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) draft request for proposal (RFP) for a new management contract of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Several organizations joined together very quickly to provide the public with information about requesting an extension of the comment period on the draft RFP. Now called the Coalition for LANL Excellence, they called for an extension in order to focus more public awareness on potential changes in employee and retiree benefits stated in the draft RFP that could seriously undermine the high level of excellence that has kept LANL rated one the finest scientific laboratories in the world, a place where many winners of the Nobel Prize and other scientific prizes have worked.
The CLE consists of representatives of the Laboratory Retiree Group (LRG), the Retired Public Employee Association (RPEA), the Democratic and Republican parties of Los Alamos County, the University Professional & Technical Employees Union (UPTE), as well as concerned individuals who are retired or active LANL employees. In January 2005, during the extended comment period, the CLE arranged a second visit from DOE representative Tyler Przybylek, Chairman of the Source Evaluation Board (SEB), for a public meeting in Los Alamos concerning the LANL contract award process because his first visit was restricted to LANL badge holders. The extension of the comment period and the large public meeting resulted in the DOE’s receipt of hundreds of individual comments from LANL employees and retirees, as well as formal comments submitted by the CLE, the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, the Governor of New Mexico, and other relevant individuals and groups, along with significant State and national attention to the issue.
The CLE believes that employee and retirement benefits influence management’s ability to ‘recruit and retain’ scientific expertise, and that the generous benefits package provided to LANL by the University of California under its management for the past 60 years has played an extremely important part in the continued level of excellence at LANL. Superior benefits are key to attracting and keeping a superior workforce, so the CLE is paying particularly strong attention to those parts of the RFP and award process that might adversely affect benefits resulting in an exodus of key personnel not easily replaced. However, the CLE also hopes to involve members of local and regional businesses, community organizations, and the public at large to see to it that the Laboratory continues to have a positive impact on the economy and quality of life in northern New Mexico by promoting greater involvement with schools, community activities, as well as ‘family-friendly’ policies in the workplace.
The role of LANL in maintaining the security of the United States cannot be underestimated and makes this institution almost unique in terms of management policies. At the same time, LANL has a tremendous impact upon the vitality of northern New Mexico, and conversely, enhancing this vitality is important to the ability to attract the first-rate researchers needed to fulfill its mission. A new laboratory manager must recognize that the LANL staff is specialized because of its unique mandated mission, that LANL's success is vital to the interests of the nation, and that this success is dependent upon being able to attract this caliber of person to the area.
The long-term goals of the CLE extend beyond the immediate question of the RFP, but its near-term attention is focused on making sure that the contract award process does nothing to harm LANL excellence, which stems from workforce excellence.
Besides providing input to DOE regarding issues associated with the LANL contract renewal, CLE continues to provide information to our Congressional Delegation, the Governor, the Laboratory, and the public.
As of March 2005, the Executive Committee of the Coalition for LANL
Excellence includes the following members:
Executive Committee of the Coalition for LANL Excellence
For further information on the Coalition for LANL Excellence, see:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COALITIONforLANLEXCELLENCE/
This website provides a forum for discussion and posts information regarding the
Laboratory and the need to maintain its excellence as well as more specific information
regarding the LANL contract award process. Anyone may join this Group by following
the instructions posted on the website.
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