Marinette Marine laying off shipbuilders
MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) Marinette Marine shipbuilders say they're facing layoffs.
Boilermakers Local 696 says it's been notified that 91 union employees will be laid off effective Monday.
Local union president Bill Lockhart says a second round of layoffs is scheduled for Nov. 3. Unless the company gets additional work, another 120 workers will be out of a job.
Earlier this month, Marinette Marine CEO Richard McCreary said the layoffs were necessary because of delays by the Navy and Coast Guard in awarding contracts.
A phone call seeking comment from Marinette Marine was not immediately returned.
Sep 25, 2008 at 1:14 p.m.
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Any part of the defense industry is going to be boom or bust, unfortunately. It's almost impossible to plan out defense contracts for continuous employment, although shipbuilding can be one of those that is more permanent than most.
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The Coast Guard has suffered severe issues with its fleet, cancelling a major new "deepwater" cutter program, and the Navy is running into issues with its Littoral Combat Vessel. Marinette and Lockheed built LCS-1 and delivered it last week, but the Navy was unhappy with the construction costs for the future program. Ultimately it could be 20-30 ships, but the Navy may force a rebid, which would mean months of downtime.
Sep 25, 2008 at 9:06 a.m.
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More sad news as I climb out of bed (worked late, late last night). I send condolences to the workers and their affected families. Washington may not give a darn about us "normal folks," but I sure do.
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