MSTS Fails to Negotiate a Fair Contract

(NYE COUNTY, Nev.) – At 4:00 am this morning, 80 members of Teamsters Local 631 at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) were forced onto the picket line after NNSS contractor Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) failed to negotiate a fair collective bargaining agreement.

Following weeks of negotiations, talks with MSTS stalled when Local 631 offered to continue discussions this past Saturday and Sunday. The response from MSTS was that they do not work on the weekends. It then refused to meet or come to the table over the course of the last two days.

“Unlike this company, Teamsters work weekends. We will be waiting at the table and are willing to negotiate 24/7 until an agreement is reached,” said Tommy Blitsch, Local 631 Secretary-Treasurer. “For some reason, their chief negotiator believed it was a good idea to attempt and shortchange the Teamsters. MSTS will soon learn that was a big mistake.”

Local 631 is one of multiple labor organizations in the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions who are signatories to a Project Labor Agreement with MSTS. Over the past few weeks, MSTS has reached tentative agreements with the other signatory unions that provide more than what members of Local 631 have been offered at the bargaining table.

“The companies’ attempt to pit the Teamsters against other unions is a losing strategy, and the company picked the wrong union to shortchange,” Blitsch said.

Teamsters Local 631 represents workers in gaming, construction, logistics, transit, and other industries throughout Southern Nevada. For more information, go to teamsterslocal631.org.

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