Rockwell Staff Cautious About Conversion Grants

Rockwell workers knew little about the defense-conversion grant their company had won when they came to see President Clinton here Saturday. And when they left, they knew little more, only that it was a modest sum unlikely to ease immediate fears for their jobs.

“Can’t say yet what it will do for us personally,” said Kerry Gunther, a 33-year-old toolmaker and father of three.

“It’s all for R and D,” the Palmdale resident shrugged, referring to research and development as opposed to job retraining. “It’s a bone.”

The $2.6-million grant to Rockwell’s Rocketdyne Division, awarded under the Clinton Administration’s Technology Reinvestment Program, will be used over 21 months to develop a portable hazardous-materials detector.

During an economic pep talk at Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park headquarters Saturday, Clinton told about 2,000 workers that the new Ecoscan detector could lead to environmental cleanups that in turn could create new jobs. He added that such grants will one day be regarded as “the best money we ever spent.”

But jaded by layoffs and the gnawing knowledge of more to come, workers reacted cautiously to the news.

“You gotta realize that for all this talk, this company is still laying off 900 people,” said a Rocketdyne engineer who asked not to be named.

Rocketdyne last month announced it will eliminate as many as 990 jobs, or 15% of its 6,600-employee work force, because of expected funding cuts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Most of Rocketdyne’s $1-billion annual revenue comes from NASA contracts for space shuttle engines and the space station.

“Hopefully they can find jobs elsewhere,” the engineer said, “but I think everyone is kind of scared.”

Machinist Randy Ramirez of Palmdale, who voted for Clinton, said the defense-conversion grant sounded “like something that might be good for us.” But he also said fear of layoffs is a daily ingredient of life at Rocketdyne, a unit of the Seal Beach-based Rockwell International.

“I’ve seen a lot of people go out, so there’s always that feeling in the air,” Ramirez said.

Materials engineer Lewis Schmidt, 36, said he left a secure civil service job for his Rocketdyne post and called the Administration’s defense-conversion grants “a good first step.”

“Every little bit helps,” agreed Fred Friday, a 37-year Rockwell employee and Canoga Park resident, who worked his way up from an assembly line worker to a product manager on the space shuttle’s main engine.

“We’re proud of our company and it’s an honor for the President to come here,” he said.

Still, several workers interviewed remained bitterly opposed to the defense budget cuts that have made job loss a constant fear.

“We need defense, not conversion,” said Sally Jean Boors, a 14-year employee whose mouth drew into a tight line.

“We don’t need Pearl Harbor again,” added Boors of Yorba Linda, who said she lost two uncles in the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack.

Though defense conversion was a theme of Clinton’s address, Rocketdyne’s Ecoscan grant was only briefly mentioned and the President offered workers few details about the amount of funding it involves or how it might affect their jobs.

Instead, during his speech and an earlier, round-table discussion with regional leaders, Clinton spoke broadly about Southern California’s sagging economy and efforts to create new jobs here and in the rest of the country.

On a day when headlines reported drops in the state and national unemployment rates and a new round of defense-conversion awards--including $50 million to 13 California projects--the President spoke optimistically.

“Most Americans haven’t felt it yet,” he told Rockwell workers during his second visit to the San Fernando Valley since taking office, “but you can’t ignore the signs that the economy is coming back.”

Skeptical aerospace workers couldn’t ignore a 1 1/2-hour delay in Clinton’s appearance.

Because his round-table discussion ran 3 1/2 hours--1 1/2 hours behind schedule--company workers, who had to arrive early due to instructions from the Secret Service, waited nearly four hours for his 40-minute appearance. They were without seats, refreshments or easy access to restrooms. Many in the crowd, who were chosen by a lottery and crammed into a cavernous engine-assembly room, came with spouses and children, cameras and binoculars for the event.

Jokes that Clinton must have been getting another haircut were rampant. But the President still drew cheers and applause when he entered the sterile, sci-fi-like warehouse accompanied by pounding disco music piped in over the loudspeaker.

Clinton also thawed his audience when someone accidentally knocked into a pipe, releasing a loud hiss of steam.

“What is that sound? It’s not my hot air for a change,” Clinton quipped, minutes after saying he was “a little embarrassed to be so late.”

The apology was lost on one worker, an engineer who linked Clinton’s delay to what he described as government’s indifference toward aerospace workers.

“He was supposed to be here at a certain time,” the engineer said. “If he doesn’t follow up on small commitments, how does he keep large ones?”