Union Advises its Shipyard Members Not to Take Federal Buyout Offer
- February 21st 2025
- News
According to the Seacoast Shipyard Association, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard had a regional economic impact of over $1.5 billion and employed 7,469 civilian workers in 2023.
Photo: AlexiusHoratius via Creative Commons
The Metal Trades Council, which represents approximately 3,000 workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY), has advised its members not to accept the Trump administration’s buyout offer extended to federal employees, according to Seacoast Online.
On Feb. 11, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sent a bipartisan letter to Terence G. Emmert, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of the Navy, noting that any reduction in the PNSY’s workforce will jeopardize national security by increasing submarine maintenance timelines. “Our shipyards cannot afford to reduce their workforces,” the letter reads. “In fact, PNSY needs to hire 550 workers annually just to meet Navy demand for the foreseeable future.” The senators requested that the Department of the Navy work with the Office of Personnel Management to grant an exception for employees at PNSY and other parts of the defense industrial base from the recently announced workforce reduction efforts.
A press release from Collins’s office states that she and Shaheen have “long advocated for New England’s shipbuilding industry and workforce, including through authorizing funding and workforce development for PNSY.” Some recent efforts, through the National Defense Authorization Act, authorized projects at PNSY that will expand its “capacity to maintain America’s fast-attack submarine fleet” as well as authorization of more than $400 million for the Dry Dock #1 construction project and $28.7 million for power plant resiliency improvements at the shipyard.
The exact impact of a PNSY workforce reduction on the regional economy and national security is unknown. However, according to the 2023 Report on the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard published by the Seacoast Shipyard Association, the shipyard had a regional economic impact of over $1.5 billion and employed 7,469 civilian workers. Sanford/Springvale residents made up the largest slice of the payroll pie at $45.9 million and represented the largest number of employees (520) from Maine. (Data for 2024 has not yet been released.)
