THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996              TAG: 9607310445
SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   27 lines

SHIPYARD RAISES HOURLY WAGES BY 2.52 PERCENT

Hourly workers at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard got a raise last week.

The 2.52 percent across-the-board increase boosts the take-home pay of the Portsmouth shipyard's 4,000-plus blue-collar workers, the shipyard confirmed Tuesday.

The average blue-collar salary in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard is about $15 an hour, a shipyard spokesman said.

Another 5,500 federal employees in Hampton Roads covered by the Federal Wage System also got the increase, according to the shipyard's employee newsletter.

The raise, an annual cost-of-living adjustment, took effect July 21.

``It is very nice to get something, but it's my opinion that we're not keeping pace with inflation,'' said George Miranda, president of the Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, a consortium of 14 unions representing the shipyard's hourly employees.

``It seems like whenever we get any kind of raise, everything out there from Virginia Power to the groceries goes up,'' Miranda said.

KEYWORDS: COST OF LIVING INCREASE PAY RAISE NORFOLK NAVAL

SHIPYARD by CNB