Assessment of Pension Benefits for Contractors' Employees in Hanford, Washington

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed pension plans for contractors' employees at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Project. Over the past several years, the contractors and the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC), as well as DOE, have disagreed on the adequacy of pension benefits for the employees. The disagreement primarily concerns whether the DOE change from a single to a multiple contractor program at Hanford has caused a loss in pension benefits for employees represented by HAMTC. The Hanford Project was originally operated by one contractor, the General Electric Company (GE). When GE decided to leave Hanford, the former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) adopted a multiple contractor program. Under the program, which DOE has continued, many private firms have operated the facilities and provided services formerly operated or provided solely by GE. Many former GE employees transferred to the successor contractors and remained employed at Hanford. GAO was asked to determine whether: (1) each successive contractor at Hanford had given credit to employees for continuous service; and (2) retiring employees are being given credit for all of their years of service.