March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Union official says Portsmouth shipyard seeking mass layoffs

KITTERY — Officials from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are waiting for word on whether they can lay off about one-quarter of the yard’s 8,200 employees, a shipyard union president reports.

The move would be another major blow to an area already hit hard by Defense Department cuts and the economic slowdown.

Wayne Roberts of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers told Foster’s Daily Democrat that he expects the layoffs to begin in October and be spread over a year.

Yard spokeswoman Ruth Dow confirmed that the yard made a “reduction in force” request to the Navy’s Sea Systems Command.

“We’ve put in our request and we have to wait for their response,” she said. “We can’t make public any information on the numbers until permission is granted from higher authorities and we can’t speculate on when we’ll hear from naval authorities.”

A media relations officer at the Sea Systems Command was checking into the status of the request Friday afternoon.

Roberts said yard Capt. Peter Bowman made the request four to six weeks ago and that a response was imminent.

The yard’s work force is split about evenly between New Hampshire and Maine residents and also employs a small number of Massachusetts residents.

Roberts said he hears that the layoffs would involve 1,800-2,000 workers.

The Portsmouth area already is trying to avoid major economic upheaval because of next year’s closing of Pease Air Force Base and other recent layoffs.


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