Nassco Strikers Have Found Other Jobs, Union Says
About 80% of the ironworkers who struck the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. nine days ago have found jobs at other local shipyards, an official of the Ironworkers Union, Local 627, said Friday.
Local 627, the largest of seven unions at Nassco, has about 500 members. Although figures for the other unions were not available Friday, it appeared that other strikers have also been successful in finding jobs on the San Diego waterfront. Larry Foster, a striking member of the International Assn. of Machinists, Lodge 389, said that “quite a few” members of his lodge have also succeeded in finding shipyard jobs.
Robert Godinez, president of Local 627, said that most of the strikers who have gone to work at other shipyards are earning between $1 and $3 more an hour than they were being paid at Nassco. Journeymen ironworkers were earning $10.80 an hour before they went on strike.
‘Better Settle Quick’
“Nassco better settle quick. If they don’t, these guys aren’t coming back. . . . When Nassco bid on the AOE (a fast Navy combat support ship), they were depending on having a skilled work force,” Godinez said.
Union leaders have encouraged the strikers to look elsewhere for jobs. Having fewer striking members without jobs means that the unions’ strike funds will not be depleted as quickly, giving the unions the option of prolonging the strike.
“The guys who have found other jobs are also coming to the picket line before or after work to picket. This helps us maintain a continuous picket line, 24 hours a day,” Godinez said.
James Emerson, a striking machinist who has worked at Nassco for more than nine years, said that the strikers have settled in for a long strike.
“How long does Nassco want us to go? Our union can go a long time. . . . We’re going to start getting strike benefits next week,” Emerson said.
On Friday, several strikers responded to the company’s allegations that union wages have to be drastically cut for the shipyard to remain competitive with yards on the East and Gulf coasts.
Wages Cut Last Fall
The company arbitrarily cut union wages in October, after the old contract expired. Journeymen wages were cut by about 17%, while unskilled workers saw their wages cut by more than 50%, to $5.50 an hour.
“I’m getting tired of hearing the company’s line. They’re saying that our wages are too high, but we’ve lost two contracts since they cut our wages. The problem is that they are too top-heavy at the administrative level. They have 800 salaried people. . . . We had no choice but to strike. How far do they think a man can go before losing all of his dignity? It came down to a matter of protecting our jobs,” said Lynn Shoemaker, an ironworker who has worked at Nassco for 22 years.
About 1,200 union workers were affected by the strike. The Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 569, settled with Nassco the day before the strike. Although the union vowed to honor the other unions’ picket lines, Godinez said that about 69 electricians have crossed the picket line.
The strikers have been taking photographs of the strikebreakers and posting them on a board called the “Scab Report.”
