Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees
Minutes of Board Meeting on December 19, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Oak Ridge Senior Center
Present:
Mike Bradshaw, Joyce Conner, Marty Goolsby, Bob Henderson, Judy Kibbe,
Keith Kibbe, Charlie Kuykendall, Tom Lemons, Pete Lotts, Dave Mason,
Ken Moore, Pete Peterson, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Joe Setaro,
Troy Trotter, Dub Shults, Don Wood, Bob Worrell, Paula Wright.
1. Opening Remarks.
Following a time for enjoying Holiday snacks and visiting, President
Dave Reichle noted that Congressman Wamp was in town recently and gave
a talk at the Breakfast Rotary meeting. Pete Peterson and Dub
Shults were present, and were able to thank Wamp for his help.
Following the meeting, a statement by Wamp was published to the effect
that Secretary of Energy Bodman is the one who is standing firmly in
the way of CORRE’s efforts. Reichle noted that he has
received copies of letters that the Roane County Mayor has sent on our
behalf to the Contractor heads and to the Tennessee Delegation.
Reichle and the Board expressed great appreciation to Troy Trotter, who
is going off the Board this month after his many years of service since
he, Joe Dykstra, and others led the way in organizing CORRE.
2. Treasurer’s Report.
Paula Wright highlighted her report, copies of which had been
distributed. There were 62 new Active Members in November, and
balance on hand at end of November was $40,868.32. There was
discussion of the increase in new members over the last couple of
months, which probably has resulted from the good articles which Sandy
Dean has sent to Retiree News, as well as to talks that Dave Reichle
has given at various events.
3. Communications.
Sandy Dean could not be present, but sent word that she hopes everyone
will be supportive of Marty Goolsby, who will take over as
Communications Director on January 1. There was discussion of a
CORRE electronic newsletter, which we hope to have underway soon.
4. Approval of Revised Bylaws.
Don Woods referred to the latest version of the Bylaws, which had been
sent electronically to all Board members several days ago. He
noted the latest changes. A motion passed to approve the latest
version, contingent upon a couple of very minor corrections. (The
corrections were made by Mary Helen Rose, and copies were distributed
to Board members on 12-20-07, with a notation asking Fred Postma to put
the revised Bylaws on the website.)
5. New Nominating Committee.
Dave Reichle reported that he is in the process of selecting a new
Nominating Committee. Lou Dunlap has agreed to serve as Chair,
and he hopes to have the final list ready for approval at the January
Board meeting.
6. Bechtel Jacobs Insurance Premiums.
Pete Peterson reported that he got together a committee, as requested
by Dave Reichle, and they met and looked at the possible changes to
medical premium costs for pre-65 retirees of Bechtel Jacobs, which were
earlier announced but have now been put on hold. He referred to
copies of a letter from CORRE to Gerald Boyd, DOE-ORO (put together by
the committee), regarding the issue of health care costs of
grandfathered Bechtel Jacobs retirees. Board members considered
the letter to be good, and Reichle signed it. Peterson said there
was a sizable meeting recently of Bechtel Jacobs union people and
retirees, and that a new group is being formed called the Alliance of
Grandfathered Retirees and Employees. The group would like to be
an affiliate of CORRE, and they are working on a position paper.
Peterson said we’ll have to wait and see how the group develops,
but will offer our support if possible.
7. Meeting with Wackenhut.
Mike Bradshaw reported that he and Dave Reichle met at Wackenhut
on December 5 with John Burleson, Manager; and with Brenda Curtis,
Human Resources head., and had a very cordial meeting. Bradshaw
and Reichle brought them up to date on CORRE’s effort and gave
them a copy of our 2007 Position Paper. They said that Burleson
and Curtis were very knowledgeable about what is going on with pension
issues. Wackenhut recently signed a contract with the union for
another five years. During negotiations, union people asked
for a change in the pension multiplier, but were told by DOE that was
not an option, so the pension issue was pulled off the table. The
Wackenhut representatives feel that nothing is going to change at
DOE-HQ until Secretary Bodman leaves the position.
Reichle and Bradshaw requested information about the status of
Wackenhut’s pension fund. Burleson will check to seen if he
can give us that information directly. It was noted that about
400 people have been hired in recent times, the result being that
Wackenhut is now having to make annual payments to the fund.
8. Government Relations Committee.
Pete Lotts reported that the Committee is still waiting for the
estimated cost of CORRE’s requests to be determined, and he
emphasized the need to quickly accomplish that. Bob Worrell
stated that he has asked for another meeting with Mark Keck at Y-12,
and a meeting is tentatively set for December 27. Worrell,
Setaro, and Reichle will attend that meeting. Lotts reported that
we continue to work with Senator Alexander’s office. He
noted that letters have been sent to Senator Corker and the three
Representatives informing them about what we are doing, and requesting
them to write letters to the DOE Secretary and the plant managers
stating their endorsement of CORRE’s requests for
adjustments. We received a thank-you letter from Senator
Corker. Lotts said we need to keep up the effort with respect to
blogging and writing letters.
9. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
Mary Helen Rose, CORRE Secretary
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