Depot employee facing workplace assault charges

This story was published Tue, Feb 11, 2003

By Karen Spears Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

UMATILLA -- A laid-off worker at the Umatilla Chemical Depot is facing assault charges after allegedly attacking his supervisor last week, officials said Monday.

William Joe Allen, 53, was arrested by Oregon State Police on Thursday, after he allegedly struck his supervisor, James A. Johnson, 64.

Police said Allen was upset over being laid off from the job. Johnson was treated at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston for injuries to his head and face. He returned to work Friday.

Both men were employees of Washington Demilitarization Co., the company hired by the Army to destroy the 3,717 tons of lethal nerve agent stored at the depot.

Rick Kelley, company spokesman, said the men worked in the company's warehouse for office supplies.

Kelley said this is the first incident of workplace violence that he can recall in his two years at the site. He declined to say why Allen was being dismissed.

Supervisors are trained for altercations, Kelley added. "We have workshops and monthly safety meetings in which workplace violence is a topic," Kelley said.

Kelley said the company has procedures in place to handle such incidents and that those procedures are reviewed on a regular basis.

Allen, a member of the Laborers Union Local 121 of Hermiston, could not be reached for comment.

Randy Knop, a union spokesman, said tensions between supervisors and employees are on the rise as Washington Demilitarization Co. struggles to keep the incinerator project on schedule.

Knop said workers are being put under an incredible strain, working long stretches without time off.

"I have concerns that employees are working way too many hours under the pressure of a timeline to complete the trial burns by July 1," Knop said. "I expect to see an increase in frustration and tension between supervisors and hourly employees as that deadline nears."

Employees said Washington Demilitarization Co. may be penalized financially if it fails to meet the deadline for completion of the trial burns.

The Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission was not told of last week's incident, said Bob Flournoy, chairman of the group.

However, Flournoy said he's aware of increased tensions at the facility.

"I've heard there are problems. But I don't know if it's the union trying to use a little muscle or if they really are being overworked," Flournoy said.

 

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