More than 200 workers at a Richland nuclear fuel manufacturing facility have voted to unionize. 

The 207 Framatome workers voted nearly 2-to-1 in favor of being represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 77, the union announced Aug. 5.  

They will be part of the Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Operations Division and will join the 45 existing IBEW Local 77 members at Framatome, who are currently covered under two separate collective bargaining agreements.  

The workers cast their votes July 30-31 after an employee-led campaign.   

“In just a short time, these workers came together with incredible energy and determination to be heard. They are eager to make things better around the plant, share their ideas for how the company can improve production, and partner with Framatome to return it to its status as the workplace of choice in the Tri-Cities,” said Jason Locke, an electrician at Framatome and one of the leaders of the campaign for IBEW representation, in a statement. 

Framatome workers were highly motivated to form their union and they did it for all the best reasons: to build a better life for their families, to have a voice on the job, to build a safer and more productive workplace, said Darla Stevens, who represents Framatome workers as an assistant business manager at Local 77.  

“When the workers approached us to make this happen, we dove in. The amount of support we received from the community, from other IBEW locals, and even from other unions was incredible,” she said in a statement. 

The newly represented workers will now begin bargaining their contract with the company.  

Those conversations will include Brian Vance, who became site leader at Framatome on July 9. He retired in April as director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management field office at the Hanford site, which included working with unions representing many of the thousands of workers on the site. 

“At the end of the day, they’re still my teammates, whether they’re represented or not, and we have to find a way to work together,” Vance told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, saying they are “part of the fabric of the Framatome family.” 

IBEW Local 77 represents more than 8,500 workers in the utility and energy sector across Washington, north Idaho and northwest Montana and maintains union halls in Kennewick, Spokane and SeaTac.  

In addition to Framatome, the Kennewick hall represents workers at Energy Northwest, Hanford, Benton PUD, Benton REA and Franklin PUD, among others.