Litton Union Wins Organizing Bid

A labor fight dating back a half a century ended when an arbitrator ruled that 4,200 workers at Litton Avondale Industries, a major shipbuilder and defense contractor, would be represented by a union. The metal trades department of the AFL-CIO and the company both said they expect to sit down early next year to negotiate what could be the first-ever union contract at the company. An arbitrator said a majority of the workers at New Orleans-area yards and at a yard in Gulfport, Miss., had signed petitions backing the metal trades department. Earlier, a majority at Avondale’s new yard in Tallulah, La., agreed to union representation. Attempts to unionize the company date back to the 1940s. The latest fight began in 1993 when the metal trades department claimed victory in a representation election. But the company, then known as Avondale Industries Inc., challenged it.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the balloting earlier this year and the National Labor Relations Board sided with the union. In late October, Avondale was acquired by Woodland Hills-based Litton Industries Inc., which has a unionized shipyard in nearby Pascagoula, Miss. A day after the retirement of longtime Avondale chief Albert Bossier Jr., a union opponent, Litton agreed with the Metal Trades Council to allow a petition process, certified by an arbitrator.