THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190644
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Norshipco announced Thursday that it may have to lay off more than 500 workers, or about 20 percent of its work force, over the next two months.
Today is the last day for 104 employees at the large Norfolk shipyard, said John W. Humphreys, the yard's vice president of administration. Another 85 people will likely be laid off next week.
``The work that we have now is coming to an end, and we don't have enough to replace it,'' Humphreys said.
Norshipco's layoffs, which would rank among the region's largest furloughs this year, are expected to ripple through the Hampton Roads economy. Shipyard workers earn some of the region's better wages. Economists figure each good job supports two or more workers in other companies.
Workers who lose their jobs and incomes no longer spend as much on food in local grocery stores and restaurants, or on clothes, televisions or automobiles.
Norshipco employs 2,652 people, making it one of the largest employers in South Hampton Roads. Nearly all its employees work at its main plant in Norfolk's Berkley section on the Elizabeth River's southern branch.
Norshipco has lost recent contract awards to other shipyards in Hampton Roads. The shrinking Navy fleet has meant less work to go around among the region's shipyards. The situation has led to cutthroat competition among the yards for the latest Navy jobs, and has meant thousands of layoffs.
``Reducing our work force is a very difficult decision,'' Humphreys said. ``We are, however, aggressively bidding new contracts and are hopeful that these layoffs will be temporary and of short duration.''
``It's nothing more than a cycle we go through,'' he added.
Officials with Local 684 of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, which represents Norshipco's hourly employees, could not be reached for comment on the layoffs.
Employment at Norshipco fell below 1,000 for the first time in many years in the summer of 1994, but the shipyard quickly bounced back.
One of the contracts that helped it rebound from that employment low, a $26 million overhaul and conversion of the combat stores ship Concord, is contributing to the current layoff. After about a year in the shipyard, the Concord is scheduled to leave in a few days, Humphreys said.
``We've been very fortunate over the past year and a half,'' he said. ``We've been very busy.''
Norshipco recently closed a smaller shipyard on the Elizabeth River's eastern branch to save overhead costs. Known as the Brambleton plant, it worked on smaller vessels including Coast Guard cutters, tugs and barges.
The 200 employees that worked in that yard were transferred to the main plant in Berkley. Humphreys said the layoffs are unrelated to the closing. ``This would have happened if the Brambleton yard remained open,'' he said. by CNB