BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia - With about a week to go before the
expiration of their 50-month contract on April 4, members of
United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 8888 here are
girding up for what could be one of the biggest battles since
the union first won its first contract in 1979. "I'm ready to
walk for what I believe in," stated Henry Waters, a sheet-
metal worker with 35 years' seniority at the yard.
This sentiment was expressed by many workers leaving and entering the shipyard at the afternoon shift change on March 26. "We need better benefits and retirement. We're tired of working for peanuts. We don't need any bonuses. We want a wage increase," continued Waters.
Workers at the shipyard have not had a raise since 1993. Some have been waiting a lot longer. Roy Smallwood, who works on the Nimitz aircraft carrier, said he hasn't had a raise since February 1988, prior to the birth of his 10-year-old son. "If there has to be a strike, let it be," stated Smallwood. "I'm willing to go out and not look back."
Joseph Ledbetter, a pipefitter who has been with the company for 27 years, hasn't had a raise in 16 years, ever since he reached the highest pay level of $14.53 an hour. "The union is stronger now to stand up against the company," commented Ledbetter.
Many workers expressed pride and growing confidence in the union after the successful solidarity march and rally past the shipyard gates by 4,000 workers on March 18.
Virginia is a so-called right-to-work state, so workers are not obligated to join the union. Yet every day more workers are signing up. USWA Local 8888, which represents 9,200 hourly workers at the yard, now has more than 6,700 members. It is numerically stronger today than at any time since the union won recognition in 1978. "After the rally a lot more workers are signing up to join the union," stated Arthur Keyes, the local's vice president.
In addition to a hefty wage increase, the union is demanding a clause in the contract that forbids the company from selling the shipyard unless the buyer agrees to recognize the Steelworkers and honor the union's contract or negotiate a new one. Military contractor General Dynamics recently put in a bid to buy the Newport News shipyard. The union also wants to impose restrictions on the hiring of outside contractors, which has been on the rise over the past few years. Some of these recently hired contract workers also solidarize with Local 8888's fight.
The workers are demanding a $6 an hour increase in the first year and a $2 per hour increase in each of the subsequent two years of a new contract. This would put them at the same wage rates as workers employed at the Anheuser- Busch plant in Williamsburg, Virginia. The company responded with an offer of a 47-month contract with three raises totaling just 11 percent. This was promptly rejected by the union negotiators. A Solidarity Alert newsletter, distributed by the union at the yard declared, "The company's proposal is an insult. We will treat it accordingly. We must prepare ourselves, for the company has moved us to the brink." The company for its part in a March 26 flyer given out at the plantgate argued, "We know our people work hard and want to be paid fairly - we agree. But what is fair? Fair has to be determined within the framework of the industry in which you compete and the geographic area in which you live." The flyer then went on to warn, "If wages and benefits are too high, we obviously will not get work and will lose jobs." Many workers this reporter spoke to rejected the company's arguments in no uncertain terms and vowed to keep fighting for a decent contract.
In response to a question about what he thought about the bombing of Yugoslavia, Howard Hunt, a painter for 25 years, commented, "It's a rich man's war. It doesn't help us. We've got a war going on in here."
Brian Williams is a member of USWA Local 2609 in Sparrows Point, Maryland. Mary Martin, a member of the International Association of Machinists, and Olympia Newton contributed to this article.