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Avondale Shipyard Charges Finally Settled

March 2002 IBEW Journal

A December settlement between the New Orleans Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, and Avondale Shipyard brings to a close a long difficult chapter in labor-management relations at the Louisiana yard, and the expectation of a new era of fairness.

Under the proposed agreement that must be approved by the National Labor Relations Board, the company must return 54 employees to their previous positions with full back pay and benefits. The Metal Trades Department estimates the back pay will total approximately $2.15 million. Nine of the 54 are members of the IBEW; their fate will be determined in a matter of days, said Local 733 Business Representative/Organizer Doug Howard.

"This is an absolute victory for us," Howard said. "Its something we have been working on for years."

The agreement appears to be one of the final chapters of a long story of mistreatment of union activists. From 1993 to 1999, workers were subjected to a bitter antiunion campaign of firings, harassment, intimidation and legal maneuvering by the shipyards former owner, Avondale Industries. Things finally started to change in 1999 when Litton purchased the property 120 miles south of Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Today, workers there are laboring under their first contract, a 45-month pact that included pay hikes and established a formal skill-progression system that moved many employees into higher-paid categories. The yard was sold again last year to Northrop Grumman but the atmosphere remains cooperative, Howard said, though changing long-standing attitudes of both employees and managers is a challenge.

"Types of things that are being settled and handled through the grievance procedures are changing policies," Howard said.

Approximately 800 workers under the collective bargaining agreement are IBEW members of Local 733.  The shipyard produces oil tankers, cargo vessels and Navy helicopter assault ships, Howard said.

First Avondale Agreement Overwhelmingly Approved - Press Release from Metal Trades Department AFL-CIO.

The Metal Letter Special Report on Avondale

Justice at Avondale Web site

Chronology of Events at Avondale