By Karen Kaplan
Day Staff Writer

Ten unions represent some 4,000 Electric Boat workers who design and build the company’s nuclear submarines today, and without those affiliations, the shipyard’s trades people and designers’ working lives would be considerably different and probably much more difficult, union officials say.

In the shipyard, where some 2,000 Metal Trades Council members are employed, nine unions represent workers in different trades, including the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 614; United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 1302; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 261; Laborers International Union of North America Shipyard and Marine Local 364; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1871.

There are also the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 106; the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades Local 1122; United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada Local 777; and the Teamsters Local 493.

The unions themselves are collectively represented by the MTC, headed up by MTC President Kenneth J. DelaCruz.

On the ship design side, “on the hill” up from the shipyard, the Marine Draftsmen Association-United Auto Workers Local 571 represents some 2,000 workers, including draftsmen, designers, technical writers and others, and is led by President Mel Olsson. Engineers, who at one time were MDA members, are no longer represented. 

The unions give the memberships a unified voice, the two presidents say, which translates into more power, especially during contract negotiations. 

“The unions were formed to give (us) power with unity, with numbers,” says DelaCruz, who notes that the MTC formed between 1944 and 1945, bringing together an original 10 unions that back then also included foundry workers. There are no longer any foundry workers at the shipyard; EB’s two foundries stopped operating several years ago and the local was disbanded. 

“All the locals, which are now the metal trades, make decisions democratically,” he adds. “Over the years we’ve come a long way.” 

“The unions have protected workers,” agrees Olsson, who has led the MDA since 1990. The union formed at EB in 1939, even before the second World War. “In some years, benefits have been rolled back, but it would have been more drastic without the unions.”

EB officials agree that the unions are important, but for different reasons than members identify. The company can make a stronger bid for submarine contracts when the shipyard unions are also willing to rally.

“I think they - the MTC and the MDA - have vital roles,” says Robert H. Nardone, vice president for human resources and administration at EB. “The level of strength they provide, from a membership perspective… If you think about how we get business these days, we’re a much stronger company when the company and the unions are marching in one direction than when we’re not.”

Ripple effect

Olsson points out that results of the unions’ negotiations with EB often have a ripple effect on EB nonunion staff. Those employees often receive a benefits package similar or equivalent to the terms that were part of a new pact between the company and one or more bargaining units, Olsson says.

“Our benefits, negotiated new benefits, are generally passed along,” he says. “And the company benefits from the unions because they (develop) a more consistent policy of dealing with people.”

As the bargaining agent for the nine trade unions, the MTC is effectively the unions’ union, representing a first-string line of defense and aggregated strength during negotiations, says DelaCruz.

“With the MTC in place, everybody (within the council) can be unified at contract times,” he says. “Everybody can be stronger, versus nine different organizations doing separate negotiations.”

The tradesmen’s nine separate unions already existed internationally before organizing local chapters in the mid-’40s at EB, DelaCruz says. But before they came in - during the four decades after EB was founded in 1899 - working conditions were far more precarious than they are now, he says. 

No recourse

“It used to be, people were laid off at will and there was no way to know who was next,” he says. “There was no equalization of overtime, and no recourse. There was a period of time when you didn’t want to be first class (tradesman) - you were paid more, and you were the first to be laid off. With worker comp (compensation) issues now, when people get injured, the unions help out. Before that, there was nothing.” 

The MDA publishes wage scales as well as pay raise timetables, hugely valuable documents to workers because they take the uncertainty out of the pay and pay raise issues, Olsson says.

“You know what you’re getting at a certain level and you know there is a certain time when you will get your next raise or sit down with your boss,” he says. “It is a significant thing, when you don’t have a union. ‘When is this (raise) happening for me?’ No one knows when anyone else gets a raise - you never know when it is your time. Your contract benefits are protected with a union - vacation time, personal time. The company (without the unions) could come out any time and modify those, but with the union, they won’t do that as readily to the salaried people.” 

At one time, the unions collectively represented tens of thousands of workers, between the trades jobs in the shipyard itself and the white collar positions held by members of the MDA. Today, those numbers are much smaller, as employment at EB has declined dramatically since the post-Cold War defense downturn of the early 1990s. And as the membership numbers have declined, so have the unions’ strength, the two leaders say. 

“Right now, we have 2,000 members, down from nine or 10 (thousand),” says DelaCruz. “There are thousands of people on the street and we’re in a tough negotiating position. The company came after us (in recent years) … We used to have 12 sick days (yearly) and now we have 10 … People voted for (last year’s) contract because they knew their alternative was to strike. And if they’re out on the street, they know the company will hire behind the (striking) work force’s back.”

He said the unions’ membership is angry about recent General Dynamics acquisitions, reasoning that if the company has funds to spend on buying new businesses, it should also use the money to keep workers on board.

“The company had billions to buy another company yet there have been thousands of layoffs,” DelaCruz says. “Everything’s looking great, but the people who have been here for 30 years (facing layoffs) are saying, ‘What about us?’ ’’

Olsson agrees that times have changed from the era when his union had more numbers and more power. The MDA has lost a little ground, he says.

“Negotiations over the years have become more and more difficult,” he says. Over the years, strikes became more frequent as time went on and MDA membership walked out several times, at one recent point for more than a year. 

“Our labor history has gone up and down,” Olsson points out. “We’ve had adversarial times with the company, and some of them have been long and quite difficult.”

Nardone says the company works to prevent poor relations between itself and the membership. EB operates far more efficiently when there is teamwork and cooperation instead of strife, he says.

“We try to avoid that whenever we can. The ability to design, build and deliver our product for a long time has been contingent on the capability of those unions,” he says. “It still takes those individuals and that background to make those tools work.”

He says EB does not see its unionized work force - roughly the same size now as its nonunion work force - as a barrier to a well-run business, although he says other companies may. It helps when the unions understand the company’s point of view, Nardone adds.

“The union involvement in the business can be a much more productive atmosphere. The more the members understand about the financials of the business …” Nardone says. “We’ve tried to get more of that information out, and we need to get better at doing that.”

Yet he also concedes that the last MTC contract left a bitter taste in members’ mouths. Workers lost sick time and other benefits, and are boycotting an upcoming family day at the shipyard to show their solidarity.

“We ended up with a relationship that was less than what we wanted and expected,” Nardone says. “(But) we’re trying to do the right thing for the membership and the company, and if the outcome is good, that’s great.”

Lost ground

Both sides agree that may have been some lost ground. But the two union leaders say the very fact the 10 organizations exist on the grounds of EB means some worker relief. The jobs could not be done without bargaining units on board, they say.

“There are good rules in the contract, like seniority,” says Olsson. “The company would probably have lawsuits, otherwise.”

“If we make gains, everybody makes gains,” says DelaCruz. “We negotiate for ourselves and others. They can’t give to blue collar and not to white … Had we not been there during contract negotiations last year, I hate to think of what might have happened.” 

© 1998-99 The Day Publishing Co.

Reprinted with the permission of The Day Publishing Co.