Twelve labor unions signed their collective bargaining agreements on Dec. 2, completing their negotiations with Triad National Security, which operates Los Alamos National Laboratory. These contracts represent about 1,200 essential workers in the skilled building trades including electricians, pipefitters, mechanics, sheet metal workers, operators, iron workers, painters, carpenters, roofers, laborers, teamsters, insulators and masons.
“The skilled building trades represent approximately 10 percent of the Laboratory workforce,” said Thom Mason, Laboratory director. “As the Lab expands its mission and invests in its facilities, these tradespeople are more essential than ever. I am grateful we have reached an agreement that benefits these employees, the New Mexico economy and our country’s national security.”
At the Laboratory, such collective bargaining negotiations take place every five years and involve an immense amount of collaboration. This process began in the summer of 2021; the new contracts go into effect in July 2022, effective through June 2027. Skilled building trades are high-paying, secure jobs, and are in demand in New Mexico and nationwide.
“Negotiations are always tough,” said Joey Atencio, vice president of the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council and chairman of the master agreement negotiations team. “I am encouraged that we were able to improve the livelihoods of every craft professional on the hill.”
New program supports opportunities for indigenous women in physics
A newly-funded program at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in collaboration with Fort Lewis College, supports undergraduate indigenous women interested in a career in physics. Offered to two women per year majoring in physics at Fort Lewis College, the program aims to build a pipeline of talent from the undergraduate level in the Four Corners region to graduate programs and eventual careers in physics, including at national laboratories such as Los Alamos.
Two program participants have been selected as the first cohort in the program. Julie Nelson, a senior at Fort Lewis College, is an engineering and math major with an emphasis in physics, and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Ariello Platero, a junior at Fort Lewis College, is also an engineering and math major with an emphasis in physics, and a member of the Navajo Nation.
The students will receive year-round mentoring from Laboratory physicists in the course of their education at Fort Lewis College. The program includes a 10-week internship in Los Alamos and a two-week visit to CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research.
Applications open for 2022 bus scholarships for Bradbury Science Museum visits
The Bradbury Science Museum Association, a non-profit partner of the Bradbury Science Museum, is now accepting applications for bus scholarships to cover the cost of field trip transportation to the museum. Applications must be submitted by Monday, January 17, 2022. Preference is given to Title I Northern New Mexico schools. The Bradbury’s education team will notify scholarship recipients by February 1. Scholarship applications are available here.
Call for community organizations to join Northern New Mexico Data Sprint
The Laboratory is looking for community partner organizations to participate in the second Northern New Mexico Community Data Sprint, which takes place in summer 2022. You can learn more about the first year’s projects here.
This week-long event will pair local nonprofit and social good organizations with a small team of LANL data scientists to solve data-related problems to benefit Northern New Mexico. The data sprint event is sponsored by LANL’s Information Science & Technology Institute and Community Partnerships Office.
Interested organizations should have their own data, a related question or problem they would like to answer or solve, and at least one representative willing to participate in some planning activities as well as participating during the week of the data sprint. There is no charge for the organization to participate in the project. The application deadline is January 30, 2022, and more information is available here.