Labor History: Newport News Shipyard Strike

Newport News Shipbuilders Strike

July 30, 1999 – Nearly 9,000 shipbuilders represented by United Steelworkers (US) Local 8888 in Newport News, VA, returned to work after ratifying a new 58-month contract, ending their 117-day strike at the Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS). Workers walked o the job, chanting “88, Close the Gate” at midnight on April 5, 1999, as the contract expired and after negotiations stalled over wage increases, workplace inequality, a successorship clause, and workers’ substantially lower pensions than those at other USW-represented facilities. It was the fi rst strike against the company in 20 years and halted nearly all production at the massive shipyard that builds nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy.

Negotiations began in January 1999, approximately three months before the expiration of their then current contract, which, in 1995, froze wages and surrendered two holidays and 10% of workers’ vacation time to help the financially strapped company become more competitive. It locked workers into 1993 pay rates, while inflation had risen 12.3% and Virginia’s average manufacturing wage had risen 17.7% over the previous six years.

Driven by its successful spinoff from Tenneco in 1996 and a strategic exit from the risky commercial shipbuilding business to focus on lucrative Navy contracts, the NNS was on much stronger financial footing by 1999, and workers demanded their fair share. They held round-the-clock picket lines throughout the sprawling facility and lobbied Congress, criticizing the U.S. Navy for reimbursing the NNS for its use of strikebreakers and security. Hundreds of steel workers traveled to the company’s annual stockholder meeting in Richmond, VA, to hold informational pickets.

Further complicating negotiations was an unsolicited offer from major defense contractor General Dynamics to buy the shipbuilding company. The USW demanded a successorship clause, proposing that any new company would have to assume the union contract or bargain over a new agreement. The Pentagon ultimately opposed the February bid, ending the deal.

During the strike, the USW filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges alleging that a May “final” offer was illegal because the parties were not at a legal impasse, the NNS unlawfully threatened members in an attempt to implement portions of its final offer, and it attempted to bribe members to abandon their bargaining positions. The USW president also filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over nuclear safety hazards.

In May, federal mediators stepped in to help resume direct negotiations. Beginning July 7, after a series of separate meetings with the mediators, the parties held round-the-clock negotiations until July 23, when they reached a tentative agreement, which members ratified on July 30, ending the strike. The new agreement secured significant wage and pension increases, guaranteed promotions, new health care provisions, a successorship clause, and restrictions on subcontracting bargaining-unit work.