OAK RIDGE, Tennessee, September 22, 2025 – Steve Manthe has joined United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) as Labor Relations Director and will lead a team responsible for all labor relations matters for the U.S. Department of Energy’s lead environmental cleanup contractor and the essential modernization work underway at DOE’s 32,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation.
Manthe will be lead negotiator for UCOR’s contracts with the bargaining units of its key labor partners, with responsibility for contract interpretation; management training and guidance on labor issues; grievance resolution; and compliance with labor laws and regulations. Approximately one-third of UCOR’s 2,500-strong workforce are represented by skilled labor unions, and their work is essential to the cleanup success that are enabling the commercial nuclear renaissance underway in the Oak Ridge Corridor.
“Steve is an experienced labor relations professional with an extensive track record of successful labor relations in industrial and building trades environments,” says Administrative Services Manager Charlie Malarkey. “These partnerships are essential as we continue to enable Cleanup Today for a Nuclear Tomorrow™.”
Manthe has significant experience in collective bargaining negotiations with a focus on maintaining worker safety and competitiveness. He comes to Oak Ridge from similar responsibilities at the Idaho National Laboratory, and his career includes labor relations leadership roles in Texas and California. He earned his bachelor’s from Oberlin College in Ohio, and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley.
About UCOR: United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) is the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s lead environmental cleanup contractor. The company’s ~2,500 workers are dedicated to safely reducing environmental risk on the Oak Ridge Reservation while helping DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration continue their important missions. Learn more about the company at UCOR.com.
-end-
Photo: Steve_Manthe_2025.jpg
Caption: UCOR Labor Relations Director Steve Manthe
Download release: UCOR NR 2025-06
