Some 200 blue-collar workers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab were picketing at the main gate to the laboratory on Tuesday morning.
The workers are on a three-day strike for what they call unfair labor practices.
"It’s to send a message that they can’t take our bargaining rights away from us just willy nilly," said James Wolford, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore Lab, who is also out picketing in solidarity with the carpenters, electricians, plumbers and others.
The main issue is that earlier this year, lab managers issued after hours on-call duty for certain workers, without bargaining.
According to Electrician and lead negotiator Steven Balke this work stoppage could affect the air conditioning for one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
"If something happens to that, all of our guys are out here protesting, so I don’t know how they’re going to fix it," said Balke. "Supervisors will have to figure it out."
The striking workers have a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board in October. In a statement, the lab said the strike will have only minimal impact on operations and it continues to bargain in good faith with its labor unions.
