BY MARY MARTIN
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia - In the eighth week of their strike
against Newport News Shipbuilding, some 9,000 members of the
United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 8888 are standing
firm.
Two workers who had crossed the picket line recently rejoined the strike, pointing to dangerous safety conditions in the yard. One of the workers, Michael Davis, said an improperly operated crane dropped a 7,500 pound load within five feet of his work station. Workers described the accidents they had witnessed in the yard, as well as intimidation by company supervisors at a May 19 press conference in Washington, D.C., organized by officials of the USWA International.
In response to the news conference and a formal complaint filed by the USWA with the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened a formal inquiry into safety violations at Newport News. The potential for accidents due to inexperience in the removal or refueling of radioactive nuclear fuel rods in the nuclear powered warships is of particular concern to shipyard workers and the entire community.
Currently the USS Nimitz and USS Harry Truman are in the yard for maintenance, and the USS Ronald Reagan is under construction. The bosses have signed on to an agreement with the U.S. Navy to cut costs to the government and the company is desperate to get out some production.
Feeling the impact of the strike, Washington used a little- known provision of the antiunion Taft-Hartley Act to order government mediation of the dispute. Announcing this move, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) spokesman David Hefert said, "In this case the strike also has national defense implications. Not to suggest this imperils the national defense, but certainly it has an effect on the U.S. Navy - they need their boats back."
Representatives of USWA Local 8888 and the company were ordered to resume negotiations with a federal mediator May 24. According to press reports, the union reduced its demand for a $3.95 wage increase over three years to $3.70, but insisted pensions must be raised from a paltry $300-$500 to around $900 per month. The company offered nothing new.
The Steelworkers went on strike April 5 after USWA Local 8888 members rejected the company's final offer of a nearly four- year contract with wage increases up to $2.49 for some of the workers. The union sought a three-year contract with an across- the-board raise of $3.95 per hour.
Hoping to lure more workers across the picket line, the company implemented what it called its "final wage offer" May 17, raising wages by $1 per hour for anyone who would work during the strike. They claimed an impasse had been reached in negotiations and suggested the door was open to hiring replacement workers. But the offer had little impact and very few workers went back.
Local 8888 officials have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, charging Newport News with committing several unfair labor practices, including the unilaterally implementing a wage offer already rejected by the union members. An NLRB investigation is under way.
Mary Martin is a member of the International Association of Machinists. Clive Turnbull contributed to this article.