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7/9/21
BATH, MAINE—Bath Iron Works said it might cut 2,500 workers if the Biden administration does not place a multiyear order for more Arleigh Burke-class destroyers within the next two years. That warning was given to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks when she met with General Dynamics executives during a visit to the shipyard on Wednesday. The company is urging the Pentagon to place an order for at least 15 ships beginning in 2023 so that Bath Iron Works can retain enough seasoned workers to build the Navy’s next class of destroyer. Executives fear a decline in orders will create a gap between the current class of destroyers [Arleigh Burke] and the new class of ships [DDG-] that is at least a decade away. Ordering at least three destroyers per year is “critical to sustain [the] industrial base and bring needed capability to the fleet,” read one of the briefing slides presented to a reporter during Hicks’ visit. Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries in Mississippi each build Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The orders are roughly split evenly between the two shipyards. But Bath has routinely experienced setbacks, putting it more than six months behind schedule building the ships. Right now, there are six Arleigh Burke destroyers in Bath, and one Zumwalt-class destroyer.
In its fiscal 2022 budget request sent to Congress in May, the Navy asked lawmakers to approve a single destroyer, one fewer than planned a year earlier. A House panel has already added the ship back into the budget and other panels are expected to follow suit. Since 2018, the shipyard has been on a hiring spree, hiring 4,000 workers as it attempts to get back on schedule and meet the Navy’s ship demand. It’s hired 1,300 workers already this year and plans to hire a total of 2,000 employees in 2021. But without an order for more destroyers soon, the shipyard says it would have to cut its workforce by about 2,500. Executives predict some of those would come through attrition, as about 1,000 of its most seasoned shipbuilders are expected to retire. The remaining cuts would be through layoffs. The Biden administration has put an emphasis on American job creation. In May, when the Pentagon sent its fiscal 2022 budget request to Congress, Hicks said that spending plan would focus “investment in American manufacturing and innovation, especially in underrepresented populations and small businesses. Doing so means that we will not only build back better, but bolster America's national security industrial base.”
Shipbuilder Warns of Layoffs if Biden Doesn’t Buy More Destroyers
Bath Iron Works told Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks it will need to cut its workforce by 2,500 if more ships aren’t ordered soon.www.defenseone.com
Not an ultimatum, but a warning that what is in the Pentagons "orders-pipeline" is not enough to retain the current shipbuilding workforce at Bath.
Let the ship builders go on welfare and food stamps
free market... I wonder if we could find cheaper shipbuilding in other countries...
It would be great if the United States had more destroyers built (to keep people employed) and gifted them to Taiwan in case the Chinese Emperor orders an attack on that island.
Would this be basically a government works project, aka, socialism?
Hey Monica when are you going to get back to me regarding your insipid claim that vaccinated "international pilots" are dying, and that airlines are not flying vaccinated passengers?Academic how many they have / build . The US never wins a battle / conflict .
Look how the 'enemy ' sent all the aircraft carriers scuttling and limping .What a debacle that was .
And the likelihood is that both the Chinese and Russians would blow 'destroyers ' out of the water with DEW .
Why use tin ships paddling through waterways when you can control any location by satellite ?
For the moment only ocean underwater tubs which are location disguised are going to produce results .And not the results which will benefit humanity .
Not really as it's for defence which I'm fairly sure most think is something the government should do.
This is the same old story that happens everywhere in the world where a ship building company will shout about lay-offs, it also happened in the UK.
The companies need to realize that the country can't always be building ships as if it's the middle of a war and the need for new ships will naturally decrease during peacetime.
free market... I wonder if we could find cheaper shipbuilding in other countries...
Like virtually everything government does, it's nothing but a big waste of resources. In principle, it's no different than Stalin having thousands of people dig canals by hand through mountains of granite with nothing but pickaxes, shovels, and wheel barrels.Would this be basically a government works project, aka, socialism?
Also, most people who work in shipyards have trade skills that travel well. When I was an apprentice Ironworker and there wasn't much work in heavy construction my rigging skills scored me a pretty good job in the shipyard.Big whoop.
Layoffs have always been a part of the job in the ship building trades.
Nothing to see here folks.
We don't need more destroyers.
Let the ship builders go on welfare and food stamps
Academic how many they have / build . The US never wins a battle / conflict .
Look how the 'enemy ' sent all the aircraft carriers scuttling and limping .What a debacle that was .
And the likelihood is that both the Chinese and Russians would blow 'destroyers ' out of the water with DEW .
Why use tin ships paddling through waterways when you can control any location by satellite ?
For the moment only ocean underwater tubs which are location disguised are going to produce results .And not the results which will benefit humanity .
One issue the US has is that it’s civilian ship building industry is not very large anymore, with much of it going to Japan, South Korea and China. That would maintain the yards in peacetime allowing for conversion to military during wartime
Shipyards can't convert back to military projects at the drop of a hat.
Bath is just letting the Govt. know that it can't sustain the current "military projects" workforce on Govt. maybe's.
Either you do want more warships from us or you don't. Let us know in a timely fashion.
Also, most people who work in shipyards have trade skills that travel well. When I was an apprentice Ironworker and there wasn't much work in heavy construction my rigging skills scored me a pretty good job in the shipyard.
Steel fitters, riggers, welders, plumbers, electricians, instrument tech's, those people will only be out of work as long as they want to be.
Where do you get this insane idea that there are satellite based weapons or anti-ship directed energy weapons currently deployed?
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