Strike at Big Shipyard Is Yet Another Effect of Katrina

As the waters subside, the prices rise - but not the wages. Strange... Some potentially serious fightback in response to the ongoing devastation of New Orleans. Reposting this from a mailing list complete with intro by Amiri Barksdale who collated the news pieces.B

I posted this to another list, but it's well worth duplication.  Katrina was pretty awful, but there was no real working class  response to any of it (not counting individual assistance like labor,  food and time donations, etc.). Until now. Workers in The MIssissippi  shipyards owned by military contractor Northrop Grumman are striking.  It's a 5-union strike, and they may have it well in hand, but this  thing goes so deep that I wonder if they can maintain control.

One of the following articles is from the NYT today and one is  background from the FT in 2005. The last is from a Mississippi paper  reproducing the blackmail strategy that worked to enforce givebacks  throughout the 80s: the old "we're in this together" thing. But it  works slightly differently with military contractors. It's directly  "political," in the sense that Congress and the Pentagon determine  who gets the military money.

Amiri__________

March 13, 2007Strike at Big Shipyard Is Yet Another Effect of KatrinaBy ADAM NOSSITER

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.”

Bill George, a pipe welder, said prices in the area had quadrupled  since the storm. “Half the people here are living in trailers,” he said.

Natasha Smith, a painter, said her rent had risen to $801 a month,  from $669. “We’re single parents, and we can’t make it on what  they’re paying us,” she said.

A company spokesman said Monday that there were no plans for  negotiations. In a statement, Northrop Grumman said its offer was  “fair and competitive,” and noted that other company plants in the  region had accepted it. The company added: “It was our desire that  this labor agreement address the financial challenges of Katrina, and  we believe the proposed contract did just that.” Workers sharply  disputed that contention, however.

“Katrina took everything, and now they’re trying to take the main  thing, our dignity,” said Shirley Hayes, who oversees shipments on  the assembly line. “They’re just playing us cheap,” she said.

John Reed, an electrician, said, “We’re living out here paycheck to  paycheck, and we’re tired of it.”

Like other strikers, Mr. Reed was standing near the dusty median of  the plant’s long entrance road, which was picket central on Monday.  The strikers had set up tents and barbecue grills in the mild spring  weather, and the blues blared from giant speakers. The shipyard’s  major projects — a giant destroyer and several transport ships —  loomed in the distance on the Mississippi Sound, and seagulls whirled  overhead.

The shipyard has been a mainstay in Pascagoula since before World War  II. Dozens of businesses here depend on its paychecks, and at  quitting time the local roads are clogged. The destroyer Cole was  repaired here after the terrorist attack on its hull, and over the  years the yard has turned out cruisers, destroyers, submarines and  ammunition ships.

Workers have not struck the plant since 1999, and local officials  speak fearfully about the effects of a prolonged strike. Still, there  appeared to be considerable support for the workers in town — grocery  stores have donated ice, water and hot dogs.

With the company not budging, the strikers were vowing to settle in  for the long haul. “If we can survive Katrina, we can survive this,”  Mr. Reed said.

Indeed, the workers here displayed a remarkable nonchalance about the  hardships ahead. Bobby Hinger, the steward of the carpenters’ shop,  stayed at the plant during the storm, water up to his neck. Then, he  said: “They gave us a steak dinner and a jacket that don’t fit us,  and they said, ‘See ya.’ This isn’t about being greedy. It’s about  being paid what we’re worth.”__________

Northrop says Katrina will depress profits

By Andrew Ward in Atlanta, FT.com sitePublished: Oct 10, 2005

Northrop Grumman has warned that its earnings will be lower than  expected this year because of $1bn of damage and work delays at its  Gulf coast shipyards following Hurricane Katrina.

Three of the defence contractor's facilities in Mississippi and  Louisiana were in the path of the devastating storm six weeks ago.  Work was delayed on 11 ships at the yards in New Orleans, Gulfport  and Pascagoula but Ron Sugar, chief executive, pledged the company  would catch up next year.

"While the damage is significant, Northrop has weathered this  disaster and will come back even stronger than before," he told  investors, during a conference call. "Our team has already made solid  progress in restoring the yards and resuming production."

The company said storm-related costs, including contract penalties  for delayed ship deliveries, would reduce full-year earnings by 40  cents a share to a range of $3.55-$3.65 a share. However, guidance  for 2006 earnings remained unchanged at $4.10-$4.30.

Work has resumed on all 11 ships under construction but more than  7,000 of its 20,000-strong workforce in the Gulf coast region remain  off work and 700 are unaccounted for. Many employees lost their homes  in the storm and have evacuated out of the area.

Northrop said it expected to recover the "preponderance" of the  estimated $1bn of cost of repairing and clearing up its storm-damaged  facilities. But it warned of a dispute with its insurance provider  over some of the losses. The company's Pascagoula and Gulfport  shipyards were particularly badly hit by the 25ft storm surge that  battered the Mississippi coastline.

Nick Fothergill, analyst at Banc of America Securities, said the  profit warning was "largely expected and should not be taken too  negatively."

In addition to the impact of work delays, contract penalties and  storm damage, the company said it would also be affected by increased  labour and material costs following Katrina.

Northrop said that the cost of putting its shipbuilding business back  on schedule would reduce near-term working capital but it did not  expect "a material impact to its overall financial health".

The company reduced its forecast for 2005 revenues by $1bn to a range  of $30.5bn-$31bn.__________

MIssissippi Sun-Herald

Strike could affect economy

By MARGARET BAKERmargaretbaker1@aol.com

Posted on Fri, Mar. 09, 2007

PASCAGOULA - Economic-development leaders are keeping a close eye on  the strike at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems to see how much lost  wages will dip into sales in this Jackson County community.

"No doubt about it, we're in an unfortunate situation," said George  Freeland, director of the Jackson County Economic Development  Foundation. 'I'm not going to skirt around it. It's undeniable. We've  got to be honest that there is going to be an undeniable short-term  impact to the economy as a result of the temporary loss of income  into the community from the labor force."

Still, Freeland and others, including local and state lawmakers, say  it's too soon to gauge the overall effects of the strike.

"The extent of the impact," Freeland said, "will of course be driven  by the duration of this strike and obviously we don't know what that  is going to be right now."

By mid-afternoon Thursday, U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., had issued  a statement encouraging a quick resolve to the strike.

"Northrop Grumman Ship Systems is executing major contracts that are  linked to America's national security and making sure our military  has the best tools to protect our nation," Lott said. "My dad was a  union member... and growing up in the shadow of the shipyard, I've  seen a number of labor disputes.

"A protracted strike could send the wrong message as Mississippi's  Congressional delegation works hard to ensure our shipyard continues  having a fair shot at winning work. We're recently been successful in  securing good contracts. Employment in Pascagoula is rising.  Certainly, no one wants to jeopardize that."

Other lawmakers echoed the sentiment, saying they hope an agreement  could be reached before the strike has a more dire effect on the  community.

Said U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran: "I hope a resolution of this situation  can be reached soon. The Gulf Coast has had more than its share of  hardships. We need to find a way to move forward together into a new  era of prosperity."

Freeland said he doesn't expect the strike to have an immediate  impact on recruiting new business to the state.

The bottom line, officials said, is the longer the strike lasts the  greater impact it will have on economic development and investor- recruitment efforts.

"Jackson County has a very long history of stable working  relationships between labor and management in the shipyard," Freeland  said, "and as such, what we're experiencing now is absolutely the  exception rather than the norm."