Some Grumbling Going On

Don't get me wrong, after 9/11 we need tight security where nuclear reactors and weapons facilities are concerned, but the new Fitness For Duty standards where members of our security team are concerned are just not fair to many long term employees at the plant. Hell, I could not run 40 yards for a Bar BQ rib sandwich, let alone do it in 8 seconds flat...I'd trip over my beer belly long before I reached the finish line. I'm bringing this up, because 500 security staff walked off their jobs over this very issue at a military weapons sight last night...FAT PEOPLE ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE WORK PLACE.

These new fitness for duty rules are bullsh*t plain and simple, especially where nuclear reactors are concerned. Don't let on that I told you this, but our Indian Point security strategy is simple...we sit in defensive positions behind bullet resistant (almost but not quite as good as bullet proof) glass shields, and wait for the terrorist to come to us...we could get hurt running around outside, especially if we got attacked after dark. Any fat schmuck can handle security of this nature, and how fit do you need to be to have some one sign in...those clipboards are not that heavy.

You ask me, this is just another tool that management wants to use in their attempts to break unions, lower wages and decrease staffing at reactor sites. As it is, the public would be shocked if they knew the skeletal staff we use to run not one but two reactors here at Indian Point. Get rid of management and security staff, and you have barely 1000 employees to maintain two reactors. Sounds like a lot, until you figure thats 500 employees per reactor, with 4 different shift cycles we have to cover. In the cases of a serious incident, we would be severely short handed real fast.

If truth be told, think Entergy would get rid of half of us yesterday if they were not afraid of us going public about the goings on inside the plant. Get me a few good beers, and I could tell you some stories that would make your hair stand on end. What we know keeps us safe, keeps us employed. That is the real secret behind the slogan, "Vital, safe and secure."