Southeast/Long Beach : Shipyard May Survive Until September, 1997
The soon-to-be-closed Long Beach Naval Shipyard may be open longer than expected.
A tentative agreement between shipyard and Navy officials resulted in the shipyard’s planned closing date being extended from January, 1997, to September, 1997, giving its 2,900 employees extra time to find new jobs.
Navy officials had originally wanted to close the shipyard in early 1998, but recently began making plans to move up the closing date by 14 months. However, political pressure from California lawmakers, national political figures, shipyard officials and labor unions apparently led to the compromise.
“A lot of employees and citizens really made an uproar,” said Darrell Neft, international vice president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, one of several labor unions that represent blue- and white-collar shipyard workers.
The new closing date is not certain yet, but Neft hopes that unions and supportive politicians can hold the Navy to this plan if they cannot obtain any further extensions.
Although some engineers may be bought out as early as this fall, massive layoffs are not anticipated until July, when ship work is expected to cease.
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