Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993                   TAG: 9312110190
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

AMMO PLANT TO CALL BACK 230 WORKERS

Hercules Inc., which runs the plant for the U.S. Army, already has begun notifying the employees that they will be returning to work during January and February.

"It's real good news." said Ken Thompson, president of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, Local 3-495, which represents the workers. "This'll be a good Christmas present for a lot of people."

Thompson said he didn't think there would be any problem getting 230 workers to come back to their jobs at the plant.

The recall will bring the plant's employment level to 1,855. Three years ago, before defense cutbacks, the plant employed almost 4,000 workers.

The work, producing more than 4 million pounds of stick cannon propellant, is scheduled to last about a year.

Thompson said he hoped demand for military propellants would improve by the end of 1994 to permit at least some of the recalled workers to stay on longer. He estimated those being called back had at least nine or 10 years' seniority at the plant.

An explosion that destroyed a nitroglycerin storehouse and disrupted production in February delayed the stick propellant order until now, said Nicole Kinser, the plant's public information officer.

A project to restore the damaged nitroglycerin production unit and make it a remote-control operation is scheduled for completion around the first of the year.

"This is good news all the way around," Kinser said late Friday. "We've modernized that facility and removed the employee from hands-on operation, and we're also able to call some employees back."

Recalls will be based on seniority. The last employees laid off will be the first called back. Workers will come back in groups of 30 to 40 during January and February. Physical examinations for recalled employees will begin next week

"We expect to have everybody on board by the end of February," Kinser said. The plant now has 1,625 employees.

The employees being recalled are from the plant's Green Lines and Rolled Powder areas. The stick propellant to be produced is used as the propelling charge in the 155 mm howitzer cannon.