THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412040055
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Newport News Shipbuilding violated a union contract when it told thousands of workers to stay home Veterans Day 1993 during a christening for an aircraft carrier, an arbiter has ruled.
The shipyard told as many as 3,500 workers in its North Yard to take a vacation day or an unpaid absence for Nov. 11, 1993, the same day it christened the John C. Stennis.
The forced holiday could cost the shipyard $500,000 in back wages, said Judith C. Boyd, sub-director for the United Steelworkers of America.
``We think this is a real victory for the union,'' Boyd said Friday. ``This is a sizable monetary settlement.''
Boyd said the union and the yard are determining exactly how many employees were affected and how they will be compensated.
Yard executives said they were unsure what they would have to do to comply with the ruling.
``Obviously, the company is very disappointed in the arbiter's ruling,'' said yard spokesman Mike Hatfield.
Independent arbiter James Litton of Boston handed down his binding decision two weeks ago.
About 1,000 workers filed grievances with the union over the yard's action, Boyd said. At the time of the christening, union grievance committee Chairman Danny Keefer estimated the yard forced about 3,500 workers to stay home.
The yard usually idles workers who work in the area where ships are christened.
The contract allows the yard to ``pass out'' workers - force them to take a vacation day or an unpaid absence - without regard to seniority ``due to ship movement, the docking or undocking of a ship, fast cruise, or the launching of a ship.'' Yard executives argued that a christening is the same as a launching, and therefore they could force the workers to stay home.
``A christening is not a part of launching,'' Boyd said. `` One is a ceremony. The other is a physical movement of the ship.''
Several years ago, the yard stopped its tradition of launching vessels - floating them for the first time - when it christens a ship.
As a result, the arbiter decided the two are distinct events and the yard can't ``pass out'' workers during a christening. by CNB