Livermore
& Los Alamos retirees Talk,
while court case continues
The health care court case
brought by Livermore Lab retirees against the University of California will
continue at least through May, according to schedules set in Superior Court in
Oakland. Meanwhile, the UC Livermore Lab Retiree Group started exchanging
information with some of its Los Alamos counterparts, as the two widely
separated groups of retirees wondered whether they could help each other. In
the Livermore-UC court case, attorneys representing the two sides have started
exchanging documents, according to Joe Requa, head of the Livermore Lab Retiree
Group.
UC is
responding to a public records request by the retirees, and in turn the
retirees plan to provide documents sought by the UniversityÕs attorneys.
Earlier this month, it was thought that a March 24 hearing might be the final
one on the question of whether the retirees could pursue their effort to force
the University to take them back into the UC health care system. However, attorneys for the two sides
Òagreed to a third round of filings before a hearing occurs,Ó Requa said. The
Livermore Retiree Group believes University records going back to the 1960s
could support its contention that UC is legally required to continue providing
retiree health despite a change of contract that moved the Laboratory under new
management starting in 2008.
The
University argues that it has no such obligation because the LaboratoryÕs
federal sponsor, the U.S. Department of Energy, decided to move health care
responsibilities to the new contractor. The next court hearing is scheduled for
May 5 or later to consider the UniversityÕs motion to dismiss the case. In the
meantime, the Livermore Retiree Group has been exchanging emails with its Los
Alamos counterpart, called the Laboratory Retiree Group. The New Mexico group
intends to fight a plan by the National Nuclear Security Administration Ð the
branch of the Department of Energy that funds
Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories Ð to reduce support for Los
Alamos retiree health care by 20 percent.
The
Los Alamos operating contract was changed a year earlier than LivermoreÕs; in
fact the 2008 Livermore change was modeled on the Los Alamos experience.
However, Los Alamos contract wording has continued to specify that retirees get
health care that is Òsubstantially equivalentÓ to that provided by the previous
contractor, the University of California. Thus, the Los Alamos LRG argues, NNSA
should be legally bound to maintain its support for health care at the higher
level that the University continues to offer to its retirees.
The
Livermore contract that took effect in 2008 initially specified Òsubstantially
equivalentÓ health care, but it was modified a year later under circumstances
that have never been explained to
allow a lower Òindustrial standardÓ of health care for retirees. This change
has been part of the dissatisfaction among many Livermore retirees, leading to
formation of the Livermore Retiree Group and fund-raising leading to legal action.
The
official LLNL Retirees Organization is not allowed to participate in political
activities. As Livermore retiree leader Requa told members of his group, the
Los Alamos LRG was established under conditions that permit lobbying and other
political activity. ÒThey are in a different position than our official LLNL
Retirees Organization because they are formed under IRS code section 501(c)(4)
and are allowed to participate in political activities,Ó Requa wrote. ÒWe are
looking into the possibility of working with them,Ó he added, without
specifying what form
acollaboration might take.