THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512030078
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Norfolk Naval Shipyard's work force will remain at about 7,000 through next summer even as the Navy cuts jobs at the nation's other public shipyards.
U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky, D-Va., said Saturday that the big public yard in Portsmouth will escape the latest round of personnel cuts at the naval shipyards thanks to its good workload.
``Our work force is matched to our workload for the remainder of this fiscal year (which ends Sept. 30), and we don't anticipate any major changes,'' yard spokesman Steve Milner confirmed Saturday.
The good news comes as the Navy offers another round of voluntary early retirements and separation incentives to workers at the other public shipyards in Maine, Washington state and Hawaii, said Sisisky, whose district wraps around the local shipyard.
``We just got through doing that,'' Milner said.
About 300 workers accepted early retirement and early outs at Norfolk Naval Shipyard this summer and were off the payroll by Sept. 30, Milner said.
The yard also released about 100 temporary and on-call workers last week because of a slight downturn in work. Five ships had sailed from the yard for sea trials in the past two weeks.
Employment at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, one of the largest employers in South Hampton Roads, has fallen steadily from more than 12,000 in the late 1980s to little more than 7,000 today.
The yard, which repairs and overhauls aircraft carriers, submarines and other Navy vessels , has slashed employment as the post-Cold War Navy has shrunk.
Sisisky said the yard is escaping this latest round of cutbacks thanks to a steady stream of work coming its way in the next few months. ``They're busy as heck down there,'' he said.
No union officials at the shipyard could be reached for comment Saturday.
Milner confirmed that the three other naval shipyards that remain open after the latest round of base closings will be offering early retirement and buyouts.
Sisisky said about 504 early retirements and buyouts will be offered at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii; about 850 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.; and 250 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. by CNB