PASCAGOULA, Miss. – Striking shipyard workers and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems prepared Tuesday for another round of contract talks as the walkout at the Pascagoula facility began its 19th day.

The two sides are meeting for the second time since the strike began. A meeting last week ended with no progress toward ending the stalemate.

The company and leaders of 15 unions were called back to talks by a federal mediator.

The strike began March 8 at the Northrop’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, which competes with Maine’s Bath Iron Works for Navy destroyer contracts. Work continues at shipyards in Gulfport and at Avondale in Mississippi, and at Tallulah in Louisiana.

Mike Crawley, president of the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council, the umbrella for 11 of the 15 unions, said Monday the information that union leaders delivered to the company last week could be considered a counterproposal and that the Tuesday meeting was a good sign.

“It looks like some movement may have been started,” Crawley said.

Crawley also praised the mediator saying, “He’s doing his job. They have a tough job trying to keep us together.”

In the meantime, workers continue to man the picket lines.

Northrop Grumman sat down at the first of the year to negotiate a new labor agreement with the unions, which represent thousands of workers at the yard. Northrop is Mississippi’s largest private employer.