Senators Collins, Shaheen Call on Navy to Protect Employee Pay and Benefits at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sent a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of the Navy urging the branch to reconsider the Office of Civilian Human Resources’ (OCHR) decision to review and modify civilian workforce position classifications across four public shipyards, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. In their letter to Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Senators noted that the review could result in civilian employees losing pay and benefits as well as negatively impact efforts to eliminate submarine maintenance backlogs.
“Should OCHR’s review result in position description demotions and salary decreases for a significant population of technical professionals, it would cripple efforts to staff and support the needs of the Navy,” the Senators wrote. “We, therefore, ask for your support in protecting our shipyard employees by reconsidering OCHR’s directive and by engaging with OPM to find a position that both maintains the integrity of the Federal and Department of Navy Classification Programs while protecting the wages and benefits of our valued workforce.”
“Today’s security environment requires the United States to have a combat-credible undersea fleet to maintain a competitive edge over our adversaries. The overwhelming production capacity of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia’s steady production progress toward fifth generation submarines, and growing cooperation between these authoritarian regimes will create additional demands on the U.S. submarine force. Meanwhile, the U.S. submarine industrial base continues to face maintenance shortfalls at our four public shipyards that affect the Navy’s ability to get boats back into the fleet on time. Reducing these maintenance backlogs is contingent on a robust, well-trained shipyard workforce,” the Senators concluded.
The complete text of their letter can be read here.
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