BY BRIAN WILLIAMS AND MARY MARTIN
RICHMOND, Virginia - Some 1,000 striking shipyard workers, organized by United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 8888, brought their picket lines to the state capital here June 25 outside the annual shareholders meeting of Newport News Shipbuilding. The unionists carried signs saying, "Torpedo injustice," blew whistles to help make their presence known, and chanted "8888 close the gates," and "It's contract time." The picket line, which circled the block, was disciplined and spirited and a powerful display of the unionists' determination after nearly three months on strike to win a decent contract. A day before, some 500 members of Local 8888, which represents the yard's 9,200 hourly production and maintenance employees, held an expanded picket line outside the shipyard gates to mobilize support for the Richmond trip. "Unions have got to stick together," stated Tom Dooley, a striking steelworker who has worked as a pipefitter for 16 years at the yard. "We need to pull together and have more workers' rallies. We are trying to make it better for the future. We are not just fighting for ourselves. We are fighting for the guys who are retiring. They are at the end of the line. The company's going to break us or we are going to break them. And all the other companies are watching."

Steelworkers boarded 25 buses to make the hour-long trip from Newport News to Richmond. The stockholders had scheduled their meeting at the ornate Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond. At the last minute, however, hotel management, hoping to avoid all the publicity that the planned steelworkers protest would generate, canceled the meeting room contract. Shipyard officials convened at the Jefferson Hotel and then moved their proceedings to the Riverside Plaza a couple miles away. The steelworkers responded with mass picket lines at both sites followed by a rally in a nearby city park. Among those speaking at the rally was James Ricks, who worked at Newport News Shipbuilding for 42 years. He told rally participants that since he retired from the yard in 1982 his pension has stayed at $204 a month. "I haven't received a one cent increase since I retired. I'm with the union all the way. It's the best thing we ever did when we got the union in," he said. Others addressing the rally included Leo Girard, secretary-treasurer of the USWA; Arnold Outlaw, president of Local 8888; and Catholic bishop Walter Sullivan. A delegation of steelworkers who have shares of stock attended the meeting to press their demands for a substantial wage and pension increase. The union is demanding a $3.70 raise over three years and boosting of pension benefits after 30 years from the current average of $500 a month to $900. The company's "final offer" was pensions at $589 a month and $1.50 in raises over 47 months, plus a pay- for-performance package that could add up to another dollar for some of the workers. Nothing was resolved at the shareholders meeting. On July 1, a federal mediator contacted the union to arrange a meeting in Washington, D.C., in an effort to once again restart talks. The two sides sat down at the bargaining table with the mediator on July 7.

"The way it looks now, it will be Labor Day before we make a move," stated striker Raymond Kirk. "We've just begun to fight. And we're going to build a bond back up with those who went in to work and then came back out. When people cross the picket line, the company puts them on any job in there. If they can't do the job they get fired."

Among those marching in Richmond was Sharon Blose, a member of the International Association of Machinists who took the day off work at the Siemens Automotive plant in Newport News. She is married to a striking shipyard worker. "We have a lot of camaraderie between our unions. A lot of families have relatives in the strike," she said. "We have posters up all over the plant showing what the next activities are to support the shipyard workers. We've done a car wash to raise money and now we are on a canned goods drive. We can't let the company show up our union when someone else is in trouble."

The Steelworkers' fight has won support from other unionists in the area. Darrell Brown, a maintenance mechanic at Smithfield Packing in nearby Smithfield, Virginia, pointed out, "I've been on strike before and I support them. It's all about what is right. The companies aren't in business to give you what you are worth. They have people hired to get every advantage from you and to get the best and the most out of you. This makes the working-class people fall short. If you get people supporting you, it's a different story."

Mary Martin is a member of the International Association of Machinists. Brian Williams is a member of the United Steelworkers of America.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home