The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.17           May 3, 1999 
 
 
Shipyard Strikers In Virginia Appeal For Solidarity  

BY MARY MARTIN
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia-Nearly 9,000 members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) have stepped up efforts to win support for their strike against Newport News Shipbuilding Corp, at the same time the company threatens substantial layoffs.

In an effort to weaken the strike, the company announced on April 15 possible layoffs as part of a deal to cut costs for its biggest customer, the U.S. Navy. This announcement followed the scuttling of a proposed buyout of the yard by its biggest competitor, General Dynamics Corp. According to press reports, the Defense Department blocked the buyout deal on the grounds the merger would undermine competitive bidding on Naval contracts.

A "memorandum of understanding" signed April 20 by the Navy and Newport News Shipbuilding commits the yard to big reductions of overhead, labor, and materials costs. In a related move, Federal authorities approved the merger of Newport News Shipbuilding and the Avondale Industries shipyard in New Orleans. Combining the two shipyards under one company would give Newport News the ability to build all but one of the ships the Navy uses and more effectively compete with General Dynamics.

The day before the layoff announcement, nearly 6,000 USWA members attended a special union meeting at Hampton University Convocation Center here on April 14 to discuss measures to strengthen the support for and organization of their strike.

Union officials announced they would issue a weekly strike bulletin to union members, and organize an April 21 rally on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., followed by lobbying Congressional representatives. Some 750 strikers made the three-hour trip by bus to take part in this event.

In addition plans were set to organize a family day at an area park on April 24 and a rally at the corporate headquarters in Newport News on April 28.

The shipyard workers' strike began April 5. Their main demands are for wage increases and pension improvements. The union is asking for a $3.95 across-the-board pay raise over a 36-month contract. The company is offering instead a nearly four-year contract with only $1.50 in raises over the four years, plus a pay-for-performance package that could add up to another dollar for some of the workers.

Cadence-style songs and chants led by picket captains rang out as testament to the high morale among striking Steelworkers.

It's time

It's time to make a change

We are the people who can do it!

88 gonna make the change

88 gonna make the change!

Ain't no sense in looking down

Ain't no contract on the ground!

Ain't no sense in going back

Till we get a good contract!

Can't no scabs

Build no ships

Am I right or wrong?

YOU'RE RIGHT!

Along with the strike, the union organizing effort continues. Barry Credle, a shipfitter who has worked in the yard for three years, is proud of the fact that his work gang was 100 percent in the union by the time of the strike.

Credle, who previously worked at a nonunion shipyard for 15 years, explained he didn't join the union right away when he hired on at the Newport News yard. Then his sister, Elaine Utterback, a pipefitter for 24 years in the yard, had a talk with him. She told him, "Every man who is not in the union is a yes man for the company. If you don't want to be in the union you are agreeing with whatever they do to you and whatever they take from you and saying you won't go against that." So Credle joined the union.

"The company looks at us like a tool," he said. "When we're broke or worn out they just throw us away and get another one." Credle went on to help organize his whole work gang of 14 to be in the union. "I told them `Be for yourself and be for those working with you.' "

Meanwhile, the company has imposed 12-hour shifts on those still working. According to the April 19 Daily Press, published in Newport News, the strike has stalled production on some of the most important jobs in the yard, including the refueling of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. While hundreds of supervisors and nonunion contract workers are driving into work at the uppermost gate on the yard, only a small proportion of hourly, union-eligible workers are crossing, according to numerous accounts by striking workers at that gate. At shift change on April 16, pickets hollered at everyone who entered the gate to work. One striking worker urged each person to "Wake Up! Think about what you are doing!"

Mary Martin is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1759 and works at National Airport in Washington, D.C. Nancy Cole and Becca Arenson in Philadelphia contributed to this article.

 
 
 
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