Vol. 71/No. 13      April 2, 2007

Dupree and fellow strikers Johnnie Moffett, Richard McDougall, and Shirley Pearson were eager to tell their story to the Militant.

The company, which builds and repairs ships for the U.S. Navy, has made two contract offers to the 15 unions representing the shipyard workers. They have turned down proposals “overwhelmingly, by landslide votes, each time,” said Moffett.

Workers say the company is offering inadequate pay raises, an unacceptable jump to $200 a month for health-care coverage, and little to make their dangerous jobs safer. “We often have to weld without a fire watch, and sometimes there is so much dust in the hull of the ship you can’t see your hand in front of you,” said Pearson, describing deteriorating safety conditions.

“A lot of times we are told to work on or under scaffolding that isn’t safe,” added Dupree.

Many of the 30 to 40 workers on the picket line today said the company's $2.50 an hour pay raise offer over three years does not address the declining living conditions workers in this coastal area face after being hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.

“We’re still trying to put our lives together,” said Moffett. “We’ve lost homes, we’re fighting with insurance companies, the cost of living keeps climbing.”

“The company makes a lot of speeches about us being the best shipbuilders in the world,” added McDougall, “but when it comes time to be paid for what we do, all of a sudden we are nothing.”

Northrop Grumman is stepping up pressure on the workers and trying to turn public opinion against the strikers. A two-page ad in today's Mississippi Press, a local daily, touts the company’s “Win Win Offer.” Strikers said this follows letters threatening to cut off health insurance if workers don’t return to their jobs.

On the picket line today unionists from other workplaces stopped by. Some brought food, others dropped off firewood. Local merchants have kept the picket line well stocked. On March 16, some 50 workers from the Avondale Northrop Grumman shipyard in New Orleans joined the picket line. “We have a lot of support, and we’re more united ourselves and more prepared for this strike than fights in the past,” said Dupree.

According to the Mississippi Press, the company has asked the unions to resume negotiations.
 
 
Related articles:
On the Picket Line  
 
 
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