HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2016! - Thanksgiving Day Greeting Card & Message to Share with Family, Friends
In April, Newport News Shipbuilding President Matt Mulherin warned that 300 layoffs were possible before year"s end, adding to a string of job cuts that began in 2015.
On Monday, he gave shipyard workers another reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.
In a message to employees, he said: "While we are not through our cost reduction challenges, we are continuing to make positive progress, and do not anticipate any additional layoffs this year."
The Newport News shipyard, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, has struggled to deal with a temporary but significant drop in work. Activity has been winding down on three aircraft carriers, and that created what Mulherin called a "workload valley."
Layoffs began in September 2015 when 480 workers received notice, most of them salaried. In February, another 738 employees were let go. This time, the ax fell on hourly workers.
But as the year progressed, things began looking up. In April, the company announced it was recalling 75 unionized workers who lost jobs in February.
In May, it recalled another 210 workers in that same group.
"We have also begun hiring for a small number of positions this year," Mulherin told employees, "and will increase our hiring over the next several years."
The shipyard is the nation"s sole designer and builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and one of two yards that build nuclear-powered submarines. With about 21,000 employees, it is Virginia"s largest industrial employer.
The three aircraft carriers scheduled to leave the yard in the coming months are there for different reasons. The USS Abraham Lincoln is nearing the end of a mid-life overhaul. The first-in-class Gerald R. Ford is still undergoing testing and dealing with technical problems, but the Navy wants it to join the fleet as soon as possible.
The former USS Enterprise, the nation"s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is being inactivated and will be cut up and recycled.
"Please continue to stay focused," Mulherin"s letter says. "We still have challenges ahead, including delivering three aircraft carriers and one submarine."
As if to punctuate that point, Virginia Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released a letter over the weekend warning of possible job losses at Newport News if funding stalls for the Navy"s top-priority project: a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines.
Newport News Shipbuilding will assist General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Connecticut, in building those new boats. But Congress plans to freeze federal funding levels through 2016, even as the new submarine program is poised to enter a detailed design and construction phase.
That could prompt 2,300 job cuts between New England and Virginia. Although the letter was not specific, it is believed that biggest impact would not be in Virginia.
Lessig can be reached by phone at 757-247-7821.
Source: http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-shipyard-no-layoffs-20161121-story.html
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