NAVY CUTBACK TO MEAN 90% LAYOFFS AT SHIPYARD

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993                   TAG: 9303040082
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short
NAVY CUTBACK TO MEAN 90% LAYOFFS AT SHIPYARD
A decision by the Navy to postpone or cancel maintenance jobs means Metro Machine Corp. will have to lay off at least temporarily more than 90 percent of its nearly 800 workers, the shipyard said.
The workers will be idled for at least five months starting May 7, Richard A. Goldbach, the yard's president, told employees this week.
The announcement came a week after a Navy official told Goldbach that three maintenance jobs Metro Machine had booked for the May-October period would be canceled or postponed.
Proposed Navy cutbacks have sparked concern at other shipyards in southeastern Virginia.
Gary M. Bowers, president of The Jonathan Corp. in Norfolk, said his company has a $100 million, four-year maintenance contract for the aircraft carrier Forrestal, which reportedly has been proposed for retirement.
John L. Roper IV, executive vice president for operations at Norshipco, said he was trying to be optimistic even though the yard isn't sure how much work it stands to lose because of proposed Navy cutbacks.
"The work's coming - it's just coming later," said Roper, whose yard has laid off almost 600 workers since December.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB