Convair Workers Fear Job Losses May Loom : Employment: Analysts are split on whether proposed cuts would mean fewer missiles would be built.
President Bush’s proposal to yank nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles off U.S. surface ships and submarines met with fear and apprehension Monday at General Dynamics’ Convair division here, where about 2,000 workers are directly involved in building Tomahawks.
“We don’t know how far this (arms reduction proposal) is going to go,” said Ed Maudlin, an official with the International Assn. of Machinists, which represents about 5,900 General Dynamics employees in San Diego. “It’s the uncertainty that’s bothering us now.”
The Navy’s original procurement called for the acquisition of about 4,000 of the missiles, more than half of which have been delivered. The Navy does not break out how many of those missiles carry nuclear weapons. General Dynamics builds both nuclear and conventionally armed Tomahawks.
General Dynamics spokesman Jack Isabel said there should be no impact on the Navy’s Tomahawk acquisition strategies because President Bush is “talking about withdrawing weapons already on ships. . . . That would not affect our (future) programs.”
But Maudlin said that the elimination of nuclear-tipped Tomahawks on-board U.S. ships and submarines could create a “missile surplus” that might result in cancellations of future Tomahawk contracts, leading to layoffs.
Maudlin also called upon Congress to provide job-training funds for defense industry employees who are losing their jobs as the superpowers scale back their military spending. “If Congress can give $150 billion to the S&L; industry, it should be able to allocate money for meaningful employment programs,” Maudlin said. “And we also have to stop sending our defense contracting work overseas.”
U.S. Navy officials declined to comment on Bush’s proposal, which is part of a sweeping plan that would reduce the nation’s active nuclear arsenal. The planned cuts come at a time when Southern California defense contractors are scrambling to replace revenue being lost as the Defense Department downsizes.
Since 1984, the Navy has taken delivery of about 2,200 Tomahawks. General Dynamics’ San Diego-based Convair division has built about 1,200 Tomahawk missiles. The remainder have been manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Co. in its Titusville, Fla., plant.
One Defense Department official suggested that Bush’s planned reduction in nuclear-tipped Tomahawks might create increased demand for conventionally equipped Tomahawks. The missiles were successfully deployed for the first time during the Persian Gulf War, when Navy ships and submarines launched 291 cruise missiles against enemy targets.
While officials are “awaiting guidance” from the White House on the planned removal of nuclear-equipped Tomahawks from U.S. submarines and ships, the official suggested that “either the ships end up with extra space or you add more conventional weapons. . . . Do you bulk up with more Tomahawks . . . or do you make room for the Ping-Pong (table)?”
Stan Norris, a senior staff analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, estimated that the Navy has taken delivery of about 350 nuclear-equipped Tomahawks. About 100 of the missiles are now aboard ships and submarines, said Norris, who added that the Navy evidently has placed orders for about 640 nuclear-tipped Tomahawks.
Norris believes that Navy officials might respond to Bush’s nuclear arms reduction plan by forgoing the purchase of nuclear weapons that will end up in storage and instead concentrating on procuring conventional missiles.
That view is shared by officials at McDonnell Douglas.
“We’ve been seeing for years that the future of Tomahawk is more in the conventional, land-attack version, not toward the nuclear version,” said McDonnell Douglas spokesman Jim Schleuter. “Desert Storm proved the need . . . for an accurate missile.”
Still, the possibility of more jobs being lost as world tensions ease is an irony for some San Diego-area defense industry employees.
“World peace is great, but what’s going on in Russia is not helping me worth a damn,” said Oscar Steele, a 53-year-old employee who recently lost his production controller’s job during a reduction in force at the massive aircraft repair depot at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego.
“People who have a secure feeling about their jobs had better think twice,” said Steele, who used his 15 years of seniority at the repair depot on North Island to snare a temporary job as a painter’s assistant.
The naval depot eliminated about 820 positions in recent months during a reduction in force, resulting in layoffs of 165 civilian employees on Friday. The remainder of those cuts were handled through retirements, transfers and the resignation of employees who took jobs elsewhere. A number of depot employees were hired back as temporary workers.
Tomhawk The Tomahawk, capable of following any geographical terrain to its intended target, can “see”through a tiny television camera mounted in its nose. Length: 18 ft. Diameter: 21 inches Cruising speed: 550 m.p.h. Range: 700 miles for land attack; 250 nautical miles for sea attack. Key dates: November, ‘72-Progam established. March, ‘80-First surface ship launch. Used in Persian Gulf War. Source: Jane’s Weapon Systems. General Dynamics
