Southeast : U.S. Will Pay to Retrain Laid-Off Shipyard Workers

Help is on the way for soon-to-be unemployed shipyard workers.

The federal Department of Labor has pledged $6.1 million to help find new jobs for about 3,000 workers of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which is set to close in 1997.

The three-year grant, to be administered by the city, will provide job counseling and vouchers for vocational training at public and private educational centers across Southern California.

“We’re happy that the monies have arrived so [shipyard workers] can start working on new careers,” said Michael A. Patterson, president of the local Federal Employees Metal Trades Counsel, the shipyard’s largest labor organization.

Part of the grant money will be given directly to employers who hire and train workers in areas such as computer repair, drafting and sales, said Robert Johnson, Long Beach employment training officer. The money also will pay for counseling for workers looking for business loans or new career ideas, Johnson said.

Some shipyard workers may have the chance to remain ship builders. Nearly 200 of the yard’s workers already have already been transferred to other military construction facilities across the nation since the yard’s closure was announced earlier this year, and more may be transferred later. . . .