As San Diego's second largest shipyard it is important for us to find out how the workers are being treated and what changes can be made for the better! Give us your input.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
BAE, are you ready for better wages, affordable health care and better working conditions?
Yes! Here is your opportunity to start building support in your shipyard. Tell us what changes you would like to see at BAE, San Diego's second largest ship repair company. What are some of the issues you face in your shipyard? We need to unite all of the shipyard workers in San Diego for a government mandated wage, a "prevailing wage" of sort! Help us Help you!
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Looks like BEA is getting bigger and bigger. They just bought the shipyards in Jacksonville, FL and Mobile, AL. They seem to work well with the Unions in Honolulu and San Francisco and Norfolk, VA. I wonder how the new shipyards will do with a Union presence.
ReplyDeleteUnion jobs mean better pay and benefits - seems like a no brainer to me.
BAE Union Shipyard Workers in San Francisco make over $34.00/HR!!!
ReplyDeleteBAE will get up to $315 million to repair Navy destroyers
ReplyDeleteBy Gary Robbins7:27 p.m., June 16, 2011
The 505-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Pinckney is likely to be among the first ships to undergo repairs under the new contract. The Navy will give BAE Systems Ship Repair of San Diego up to $315 million over the next five years to fix and upgrade Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, helping stabilize the city's large ship repair industry.
The repair contract is one of the largest the Navy has issued locally in recent years, and represents new work along the entire waterfront. San Diego's major ship repair companies typically share such work because of the size of the projects, and because local yards have different specialities.
"The contract awarded today to BAE for (destroyer) repair, maintenance and modernization in San Diego is important for continued long term support of our fleet units, and also good news for the local economy in creating an opportunity for the local ship repair industry to demonstrate their ability to provide quality workmanship," said Rear Admiral (Elect) David J. Gale, who is commander of the Navy Regional Maintenance Command.
One of the command's unit, the Navy Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, will oversee the contract, which could involve maintenance and repairs on as many as 32 Burke-class destroyers. The ships are considered to be the work horse vessel of the Navy for their durability, versatility, and range.
The repair contract comes less than three weeks after the Navy awarded NASSCO $744 million to build two Mobile Landing Platform ships, a new type of vessel that will serve as a "pier at sea," enabling the military to more effectively forward-deploy personnel and supplies. NASSCO was badly in need of the work; a downturn in the economy has made it harder for the company to land new construction contracts. And a stalemate over the federal budget delayed the issuing of new ship repair contracts earlier this year, affecting all of the major shipyards.
$315 Million is great for BAE and other local San Diego contractors! Now is the time for the shipyard workers to come together for better wages and benefits!
ReplyDeleteBAE workers are not ready for a union yet. Many watch FOX and listen to Rush. They believe unions are bad for workers. In other words they have self respect issues and are brain washed. They accept their situation with resignation. Many are afraid of speaking out and being retaliated against by their bosses.
ReplyDeleteBAE workers are not "yet" ready for a union but come October or November they might be more receptive. This is when BAE usually announces the changes in the benefits package. For those keeping score; last year we lost one paid holiday, we lost some medical coverage which should continue being cut this next year. Two years ago we had our 401K contributions by the company cut and new employees were not eligible for retirement benefits.
Maybe some people will come around this fall/winter and become more receptive to the idea of belonging to a union.
Thank you for your comment!
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that your assessment is the reality of today. What I see are workers mislead by GIANT corporations into thinking that unions' are the reason our economy is in distress. All over, public sector employee unions are being attacked. The GIANT corporations are given big tax breaks and bail-out money and what happens to the workers? The middle class? Someone says they can save money by taking it out of the pockets of working men and women across the country? Stripping pensions that have been in place for years, forcing furlough days and early retirements! That is their idea of saving money and strengthening our economy?
Here is my idea of how we can help our local economy.
FACT: Appropriations bill H.R.1 recently passed and sets a budget for shipbuilding and conversion for the U.S. Navy. This budget was set at over 15 Billion dollars!
Ref: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c112:3:./temp/~c112sMZv5G:e17646:
Now is the time for the shipyard workers to ORGANIZE a union and come together for better wages and benefits! This means MORE money to the men and women that are living check to check! More money they will be spending in our local economy! Buying cars, houses, appliances, movies, clothing, gas and everything else that stimulates our economy. Putting MORE money in the hands of people who SPEND it, not the ones who lock it up in a portfolio and wait for some kind of return! This is MY idea of how we are going to put people to work and strengthen our MIDDLE CLASS!
Union workers set the wage scale for their trades! Without a union, the only guaranteed wage a shipyard worker has is $8.00/hr. Do you think your company would do this to you? It is CA. law, without a union, they have that right!Do you know why the companies are not paying this amount?
HERE IS THE SCENARIO:
If NASSCO remained the only union yard with union scale wages $20+/hr and all of the other shipyards in San Diego paid out minimum wage to their employees, how fast do you think the workers would want to organize a union for better wages just like NASSCO? So, in order for the other shipyards to keep the workers from going union, they try and maintain a similar hourly wage as NASSCO. THIS IS WHY UNION WAGES SET THE STANDARDS FOR THE INDUSTRY.
I have also heard that in some instances, companies will go as far as paying just a few cents more on hourly wage to be able to say that their employees make more than union workers. This is not only false but misleading. Union employees on average pay lower health care costs and have more paid holidays. This means that a few extra cents on an hourly wage does not mean more money in the pocket. The final kicker is that Union wages and benefits are negotiated and agreed upon by the employer and the employees. This labor agreement is a binding contract. This means that the company cannot decide on their own to take away a holiday or impose wage freezes (no increases for a period of time).
This is the benefit of being union!
What would it be like if all San Diego Shipyard Workers were union?
ReplyDeleteHERE IS THE SCENARIO:
Imagine if every shipyard worker on the San Diego Waterfront were UNION? Scary thought for an employer because now WE (the workers) have a say in our wages! Every shipyard and every employer would pay similar wages and provide similar benefits for its employees! When a union worker is laid off for lack of work, he or she would go work for another union company and not see a significant change in his or her pay or benefits. The key is to standardize wages and benefits for all trades! Everyone is compensated fairly and everyone votes on the terms of their contracts. The workers unions are not here to force companies to close their doors, its exactly the opposite! They work with employers to CREATE and MAINTAIN JOBS. Companies share work, there is always a prime and subs, the work will be there for all. First and foremost, the union provides job security for its members. The strength is in its members!
There would be no need for temporary labor companies that make $10+/hour off the backs of shipyard workers because we would ALL be union!
"you never know how strong you are... until being strong is the only choice you have."
— Cayla Mills
GOD bless shipyard workers...
ReplyDeleteSorry, brainwashing is a union practice. Unions are a leading cause of job exportation. Unions are dying, and until they wise up and understand how an economy works, they are simply doomed. Prevailing wage is a guarantee for more job loss.
ReplyDeleteSorry that you feel that way Anonymous @3:35am, however, you have made one statement that I think I can relate to. "Unions are dying", and we are ALL opening our eyes to the harsh reality and how this statement has contributed to the current income inequality of the average production worker's salary vs. that of the CEO. History shows us that back in the early 80's when union density was about 20% of the entire American work force the income ratio between the regular worker and the CEO was about 42 to 1. This means the CEO made 42 times what the regular worker made. Now in 2011 from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, you can see that union density is down to about 11.8% percent of the American workforce, "AND" the ratio between the CEO and the regular worker has skyrocketed to 343 to 1. That means when you turn on the TV and you watch all these corporations making record profits and paying big bucks to their CEO's, there is a regular worker out there employed by the same company struggling from paycheck to paycheck because, "Unions are dying".
DeleteWE HAVE A RIGHT TO FORM A UNION TO BETTER OUR WAGES, BENEFITS AND WORKING CONDITIONS. UNIONS ARE FORMED BY THE WORKERS FOR THE WORKERS. GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR JOB. "ORGANIZE..."
On a side note, here is an excerpt from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics:
"In 2011, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $938, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings of $729."
These numbers were just released on Jan 27, 2012:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
i have to say also that it is unfortunate that you feel this way anonymous... I have been a "company" person and been privy to the ways that major corporations use and abuse employees then toss them out for whatever reason they feel. The key words are "at will employment" they use this as a way to filter out those who would fight for their rights or otherwise dont fit into the "good ol boy" mentality.
ReplyDeleteYes unions APPEAR to be useless but that is the propoganda that companies have used to ensure workers do NOT organize. They know that if the yards were 100% union that they would have to pay good wages and benefits and NOT be able to use intimidation and favoritism to THIER advantage.... Also who says that the current way business is done will always be the same?? companies will use the economy as a reason to lay off workers with no regard to the individuals who must suffer the loss of income and wages and thereby add to the economic downturn. Regardless! the UNION is an organization of workers who care for their fellow workers and since WHEN has caring for your fellow man EVER been the wrong decision.? If you truly feel unions have no power then help us GAIN power by joining and contributing to the GREATER good of the workers NOT the corp's who sit pretty at home from the sweat off OUR backs..
BAE needs some kind of change. They are by far the worst company I have ever worked for. BAE ELECTRICIANS ARE WORTHLESS!
ReplyDelete