Strike at Big Shipyard Is Yet Another Effect of Katrina (NYT)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/us/13strike.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin


D. J. Jones, a shipyard worker on the picket line in Pascagoula, Miss., shouted Monday at a passing car. Nearly 7,000 workers at the Ingalls shipyard, owned by Northrop Grumman, walked off the job last week.

By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: March 13, 2007

PASCAGOULA, Miss., March 12 — The long arm of Hurricane Katrina has pushed thousands off the job and on strike at one of the nation’s biggest shipyards here, workers and union officials say.

On Thursday, nearly 7,000 workers went on strike at the Ingalls shipyard, owned by Northrop Grumman, which builds ships for the Navy. On the picket line Monday, strikers said they were demanding better wages and benefits to make up for sharp post-Katrina increases in the price of everything from milk to gas to rent, which they said are bringing family finances to the breaking point.

The walkout here is believed to be the first major strike related to Hurricane Katrina, which continues to disrupt many aspects of life up and down the Gulf Coast. Few places were as hard-hit as this small industrial town, where the water crept halfway up downtown and the beachfront was wiped out, and workers spoke Monday of losing homes, cars and a way of life to the storm.

They left the shipyard, which has supported this region for decades, after rejecting a modest increase in the $18.32 an hour many now make. Workers here said the wage rise would be wiped out by a steep increase in health insurance premiums, and would be inadequate to counter the storm’s lingering fallout.

They earn some of the highest wages in the area, at Mississippi’s largest employer. But many workers said they were still struggling, speaking of payday loans from the company credit union just to buy gasoline. They said the company’s offer of a $2.50-per-hour raise over three years was not good enough, with local rents and house prices having doubled, in some cases, and a $2.59 gallon of milk now costing $4.19. Throw in a proposed $50-per-month health premium increase, and the raise disappears, they said.

“Folks have already been through a hard time with Katrina,” said Willie Hammond, a forklift driver and father of three. “They left their houses to get this company up and running, and this is how they show their appreciation? It was an insult to the employees, that little offer they made us.”

FULL story at link.

[Solo_in_MD]

1. There is a taxpayer issue here...

The contracts for the ships being built were based on certain wage rates. They are fixed in the contract and are audited by DCMA. If they change, depending on the contact types and terms, most of the time it gets passed back to the US Gov...meaning us. FYI