Republicans Reward Avondale Owners for Quitting on the American Worker
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House Republicans once again thumbed their noses at American workers last week by voting to give $310 million of taxpayer dollars to reward the owners of the Avondale (La.) shipyard for shutting down and putting nearly 5,000 people out of work. The House rejected by a margin of 246-177 an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act offered by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) that would have prevented the government from refunding $310 million to Huntington Ingalls Industries for closure costs at Avondale. Nineteen Republicans voted to support the measure.
Last year, Northrop Grumman announced it was closing the shipyard and began laying off its 5,000-member skilled workforce. In March, it spun off the shipyard to its newly created company, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and now the workforce is down to 3,000 who are building the final ship on the yard’s order book.
Small Biz Owners Seek Obama’s Help to Keep Avondale Open
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In letters to President Obama, more than 500 small business owners serving the Avondale (La.) Shipyard community compared Northrop Grumman’s plans to shut down the Avondale shipyard to “pirates in earlier era who scuttled ships to keep their foes from using them.” The giant shipyard is closing to maximize corporate profits, not because it is losing money.
The letters urge Obama to help them keep the yard open. Avondale generates about $2 billion in economic activity for the region, sustaining a network of small businesses that cater to the shipyard’s diverse workforce.
Today, many of those business owners met at the Avondale Truck Stop and presented the letters to Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and representatives of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). Richmond will personally deliver the letters to Obama later this month.
The letter signers include grocers, veterinarians, barbers, restaurant owners, accountants, retailers, insurance agents and scores more. Says Avondale Truck Stop manager Kai Chin:
Our business depends on the shipyard. Every business in the area will say the same thing. Losing Avondale will destroy us.
Lawmakers Seek Assessment of Impact of Avondale Closing
Northrop Grumman is preparing to spin off its shipbuilding business next month, putting 4,000 skilled workers at the Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana out of work. The layoffs would devastate the Gulf region’s economy and the communities dependent on the shipbuilding industry.
At a New Orleans press conference today, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) released a joint letter he sent along with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. In the letter, the lawmakers said:
The long-term economic impact of the loss of these jobs goes far beyond the immediate impact on these workers’ families. It will undoubtedly extend deep into the Gulf Coast communities that have yet to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the recent economic downturn and last year’s BP oil spill.
Avondale Rally to Spotlight Need for Permanent Shipbuilding Solution
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Workers, unions and lawmakers successfully mobilized to keep open Northrop Grumman’s Avondale, La., shipyard after the company announced plans to end its shipbuilding operations, with the U.S. Navy saying last week it will accelerate shipbuilding plans that will keep the yard open to 2014.
Tomorrow, Avondale workers will rally to celebrate the new construction plans and urge the shipyard to stay open beyond 2014. Joining them will be AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department President Ron Ault along with New Orleans community members.
More than 5,000 workers would be directly affected had the shipyard closed. Says Holt Baker:
The shipyard industry is a vital lifeline to the Gulf Coast region. This region has been pummeled by disaster after disaster, and the working community in Louisiana cannot afford the massive economic crisis that would result if this shipyard closes.
Navy Saves Avondale Jobs Until 2013
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With layoffs set to begin Oct. 4, the more than 5,000 workers at the Avondale Shipyard near New Orleans can breathe a little easier. The U.S. Navy, the shipyard’s biggest customer, has committed to complete the construction at Avondale of two warships currently being built at the yard, which will allow workers to stay on the job until at least until the end of 2013, according to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department President Ron Ault applauded work by the White House, Landrieu and U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon (D-La.) to convince the Navy to alter its construction plans and keep Avondale open.
It also shows that the Obama administration is responsive to the economic impact of any loss of employment in the Gulf Coast region. This buys us some breathing space to keep Avondale open beyond Northrop Grumman’s scheduled shutdown date and we are very grateful to everyone who helped.
Louisiana’s Religious Community: We Need Employee Free Choice Now
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In an open letter to U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, 118 Louisiana ministers and religious leaders are demanding the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to protect dignity and justice for all workers.
Hailing from across the state and representing a broad spectrum of faiths, the coalition of religious leaders announced their support for the Employee Free Choice Act in a press conference in New Orleans yesterday. They presented their open letter and asked their senators to recognize that the vital freedom of workers to form unions and bargain is under threat.
The letter reads, in part:
Whenever people stand together in mutual commitment and for the common purpose of promoting and protecting their most essential dignity—a dignity that issues directly from God—then we as people of faith and good conscience have a moral responsibility to stand with them. We have a responsibility to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We make this appeal to the conscience of every Member of Congress.
House Recess Begins, Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues
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Members of the U.S. House return home today for a monthlong recess, and the U.S. Senate is set to adjourn at the end of the week. Back home, lawmakers already are hearing from union activists and our allies in the field who are telling them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.
As the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff noted at a rally in Colorado last week, working men and women around the country need to speak out for the freedom to form unions and bargain:
“Victory is in our reach. Turning Around America is up to us…the President can’t do it by himself. It’s up to us to make him a great president. Winning health care for all, creating good jobs and fair trade, and restoring the freedom to organize and bargain are a matter of mobilizing the most effective ground campaign in our history. One and a half million workers signed the Million Member Mobilization, tens of thousands have taken action, it’s up to us to move hundreds of thousands to turn around America, to restore economic health and growth.”
In the Field: High Momentum for Employee Free Choice Act
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Reports are piling in from around the country from union members and their allies in the faith, civil rights, small business and environmental communities who are helping advance the Employee Free Choice Act and workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
In Maine, the Sierra Club, along with Bill Murphy, director of the University of Maine’s Bureau of Labor Education, held a press conference to announce that the environmental community is strongly in favor of Employee Free Choice, which they say will ensure workers have a voice in how businesses operate in their communities.
In Fort Collins, Colo., the Rev. Daniel Klawitter of Interfaith Worker Justice, led a community meeting in support of the Employee Free Choice Act that helped raise funds for an area food bank. Union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, joined him in supporting the food bank and the freedom to form unions, which Klawitter said was “the most effective anti-poverty program” available to workers.
Lots of Action in Lots of States in Support of Employee Free Choice
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| Hundreds of Colorado union members turned out to show their support for Employee Free Choice at a town hall meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet. |
At a town hall meeting in Colorado and events in key states, union members and allies are asking their senators to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone.
Don Slaiman, who’s working on the Employee Free Choice Act campaign in the critical state of Colorado, reports that recently appointed Sen. Michael Bennet visited Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 68 hall to hear from workers about the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s one of several town hall meetings Bennet has held around the state, and workers are showing him how strong and broad their support is, Slaiman says:
We had over 400 union members in attendance, representing…almost every local and every part of the state. The appearance, energy, sentiments, diversity and breadth of participation were tremendous.
