A labor agreement approved Thursday by workers at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Virginia shipyard includes a provision allowing the company to temporarily reassign workers to the Gulf Coast, including work for Pascagoula's Ingalls yard.
The 52-month agreement covers more than 8,000 hourly workers at the company's Newport News, Va., shipyard. Members of United Steelworkers Local 8888 narrowly approved a deal that gives workers average raises of between 3.75 percent and 4 percent every 13 months and boosts pensions of workers with more than 30 years of service.
Northrop also builds ships in Pascagoula, Gulfport and New Orleans, collectively employing about 17,000 people in the three locations. Bill Glenn, the company's spokesman in Pascagoula, said Thursday that there are no plans at this time to shift workers from Virginia to the Gulf Coast.
"This provision simply gives us flexibility in case we need to transfer people on a temporary basis in the future," he said.
Earlier this year, Northrop combined its Newport News shipyard with its Gulf Coast operations to form Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. The new labor agreement is the first signed since the combination, Glenn said, and therefore the first including a labor-sharing provision.
The Pascagoula yard, known commonly as Ingalls, has 11,000 employees, about 20 percent of whom commute from south Alabama. Earlier this month Glenn declined to say how many employees the yard needs, but said the company was ready to hire "workers who have the skills necessary to build ships."
Northrop is part of a recently formed consortium of Gulf Coast shipbuilders working with Alabama's two-year college system to create a standardized training program for shipfitters – one of the most highly sought skills.
The Newport News yard is working to complete the carrier George H.W. Bush in time for the Navy's planned January commissioning, and Ingalls is reaching significant milestones toward completion of the LHD-8 amphibious assault ship Makin Island. It is scheduled for delivery in mid-2009.
Due partly to inexperienced workers the yard was forced to hire after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Northrop was stung by electrical wiring and other problems that resulted in a $326 million write-off on the Makin Island early this year.
The 52-month agreement covers more than 8,000 hourly workers at the company's Newport News, Va., shipyard. Members of United Steelworkers Local 8888 narrowly approved a deal that gives workers average raises of between 3.75 percent and 4 percent every 13 months and boosts pensions of workers with more than 30 years of service.
Northrop also builds ships in Pascagoula, Gulfport and New Orleans, collectively employing about 17,000 people in the three locations. Bill Glenn, the company's spokesman in Pascagoula, said Thursday that there are no plans at this time to shift workers from Virginia to the Gulf Coast.
"This provision simply gives us flexibility in case we need to transfer people on a temporary basis in the future," he said.
Earlier this year, Northrop combined its Newport News shipyard with its Gulf Coast operations to form Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. The new labor agreement is the first signed since the combination, Glenn said, and therefore the first including a labor-sharing provision.
The Pascagoula yard, known commonly as Ingalls, has 11,000 employees, about 20 percent of whom commute from south Alabama. Earlier this month Glenn declined to say how many employees the yard needs, but said the company was ready to hire "workers who have the skills necessary to build ships."
Northrop is part of a recently formed consortium of Gulf Coast shipbuilders working with Alabama's two-year college system to create a standardized training program for shipfitters – one of the most highly sought skills.
The Newport News yard is working to complete the carrier George H.W. Bush in time for the Navy's planned January commissioning, and Ingalls is reaching significant milestones toward completion of the LHD-8 amphibious assault ship Makin Island. It is scheduled for delivery in mid-2009.
Due partly to inexperienced workers the yard was forced to hire after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Northrop was stung by electrical wiring and other problems that resulted in a $326 million write-off on the Makin Island early this year.