Special Web Report
Save Avondale Shipyard Campaign Builds Hope in New Orleans
October 25, 2011 After Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill wreaked havoc on New Orleans, a global audience marveled again at the stoicism and solemn resolve of bayou folk who have faced down the pain and trauma that has washed over the Gulf Coast for generations.
Save Our Shipyard Campaign ( View IBEW Video) No longer a sacred cow, the U.S. military budget is being eyed by budget cutters and naval vessel construction, Avondale’s specialty, is tapering down. The yard, acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2001, will close in 2013 unless new customers or partners come forward to save all or part of Louisiana’s largest work place. Huntington Ingalls also owns a mammoth yard in Pascagoula employing more than 1,300 IBEW members. The Pascagoula yard has several large ships in the pipeline.
Government Incentives On October 18, Huntington Ingalls CEO Mike Petters and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement that will provide up to $214 million of incentives for the company to develop a joint venture to keep Avondale open for business. State funding will be available for retooling, worker training and modernization of the yard. The incentives are contingent on the company retaining at least 3,850 full-time jobs at the facility. Says IBEW Government Director Chico McGill, a former business manager of Local 733:
While the new memorandum raises hopes, says McGill, the fight for Avondale’s future is far from over. Petters told the Daily Press in September that the company’s “plan of record” is still to close the yard.
New Enterprise Could Offer Revival Inside the yard, the layoffs have begun as military ships under construction are completed. The mood among hourly and managerial workers is a mix of denial and despair, says Darrell Smith, Local 733’s chief shop steward. Some union members believe the yard’s future is guaranteed. Others believe the end is near and, says Smith, and “they want this to hurry up and be over.” Smith, who has worked as an electronics technician for 24 years, says:
A History of Fighting for Justice “The yard was like a slave camp when I started,” says Smith. There was no union. Workers were losing their lives due to unsafe conditions. Relations between managers and workers were predominantly hostile. The campaign changed everything. Smith says:
The organizing campaign brought dramatic gains to the surrounding communities. Young people, says Smith, who once would have come into the yard to work dead-end jobs now enter apprenticeship programs and some continue on to college with employer-paid tuition. Says Smith:
Devastating Results of Shutdown Documented Tax dollars from Avondale funded the rebuilding of bridges and new roads and local businesses thrived. “This was a future for generations to come,” says Smith. Merland Farria, president of the New Orleans Metal Trades and a member of Local 733, in a letter to the editor of www.nola.com wrote:
Avondale and Ingalls are the largest employers in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi—generating some $12.6 billion a year, an economic impact on the Gulf Coast three times greater than of economic than the $4 billion that seafood and tourism industries generate combined. To underscore the yard’s importance, The Metal Trades leased “Save our Shipyard” billboards across the New Orleans area shortly after layoffs began at the yards. In September, a study conducted by the University of New Orleans quantified some of unionists’ fears regarding a shutdown at Avondale. The study predicted that real estate values in communities close to the yard would plunge by more than 20 percent if it closes. In a blog posting, Ron Ault, president of the Metal Trades, AFL-CIO, says:
Ties Built with Clergy The Avondale SOS campaign has tapped a broad vein of support in New Orleans using organizing methods honed during the Civil Rights Movement. During the weekend of September 11-12, working with Interfaith Worker Justice , activists reached out to local clergy to join in prayers for an alternative to the pending shutdown. Also participating in the prayer sessions were students participating in AFL-CIO’s Union Summer program. The city’s Catholic, Episcopal and Baptist leaders encouraged nearly 200 congregations to participate in prayers for Avondale. Jim VanderWeele, minister of New Orleans’ Community Church Unitarian Universalist told www.nola.com:
Nick Unger, an AFL-CIO coordinator, told www.nola.com :
Smith is keeping his own hopes up and trying to spread a positive spirit in the yard. He says:
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