NASSCO: Shipyard Workers Wanted

Sparks splash against the floors of General Dynamics-NASSCO’s training stalls.

Behind bulky masks and hard hats that aren’t quite broken in, fledgling welders fuse themselves into the industry’s rapidly swelling workforce.

After six years of hiring freezes and layoffs, NASSCO is resurrecting its new-hire trade program. The program is expected to be a central part of a broader push to bring in 1,000 additional workers for the largest shipbuilder on the West Coast.

This month, the first crop of welders and shipfitters in the program completed their initial phase of instruction in a multi-year apprenticeship.

The Barrio Logan company is in the midst of a hiring boom, thanks to recent federal government and commercial contracts to build 10 large tankers and cargo vessels. Over the next two years, NASSCO intends to boost its workforce to about 4,000 employees.

Out of roughly 300 shipyards nationwide, only about a dozen are capable of building large Navy vessels like NASSCO, said Matthew Paxton, the president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, based in Washington, D.C.

A push for training

The shipbuilding industry is gaining steam across the country. Shipyards now have a new aim: filling spots in their training programs.

“Of all the things that are important on a shipyard, the most is having a very skilled workforce, and that takes training,” Paxton said.

Nationwide, shipyards must grapple with a flourishing trade that is falling out of popularity.

In generations past, basic welding or mechanic skills were standard at most high schools or community colleges. Now, educators put a much greater emphasize on funneling students into a four-year university, Paxton said.

“We are trying to communicate to people that this is a career path that is rewarding,” Paxton said.

At Jacksonville, Fla. — another main hub in the industry — shipyards started teaming with veteran groups and running television commercials to entice potential applicants.

In San Diego, NASSCO put up billboards and reached out to local trade schools and colleges to let people know there is work to be had on the yard.

So far, it seems to be working.

About 70 people launched into NASSCO’s eight-week training program this year to become welders and shipfitters. They will now join the production line and progress through multiple steps of an apprenticeship.

Specialized skill sets

NASSCO’s training program started in the 1970s, after it became difficult to find qualified journeymen, said Michael Jury, the company’s manager of employee development. At the time, it employed 7,900 workers — more than double the yard’s current workforce.

Today, with a starting wage of $12.37 an hour for trainees, NASSCO is a good alternative to a minimum wage job, many employees there said on a recent day. Trainees are also eligible for benefits after 60 days.

On average, shipyard workers made $73,000 in 2011, or about 45 percent higher than the income average in the private sector, according to the Shipbuilders Council.

Milani Thomas, 25, recently moved from Seattle to “start a new adventure” at NASSCO. She hopes to turn the job into a profitable career.

“Like starting anything new, it can be scary,” she said, after yanking off her welding mask and pulling gloves off her polished fingers. “It is frustrating and difficult at first — welding is a hard field to get into. But you get to create such wonderful ships.”

The USNS Lewis B. Puller, a mobile landing platform under construction that towers over the yard, serves as a 164-foot-tall reminder of what each small task builds toward.

The operations on the yard are as well-oiled as the machines they build. Each person works a specialized job that includes welding, electrical work, painting and shipfitting.

NASSCO plans to hire about 200 more trainees in the coming months to learn mechanical outfitting, sheet metal and mechanics.

Although the initial training is only two months, it takes about five years to complete an apprenticeship and become a full-fledged journeyman.

Roughly half of the yard’s trade workforce started in the training program, including Jury.

Former trainees pass on skills

Most new trainees come in with little to no experience.

“When I started here, I wasn’t even able to use a screwdriver by myself,” said shipfitter Gabriel Valasco, 31, with a laugh. Born an American citizen in Illinois, he was raised in Mexico and moved to San Diego 10 years ago to take a job with NASSCO after hearing an advertisement on the radio.

When he first started, the work was overwhelming, he said, nodding at the maze of metal and equipment dotting the yard. Shipfitters have to do a little bit of everything to piece together the different parts of the ship. As the years progressed, it got easier.

Now he passes on his skills to the new trainees.

“It is a good job with good pay. In San Diego the cost of living is so high, you need that,” he said.

Chris Marquez, 34, also transitioned from student to teacher, after joining NASSCO a decade ago. With a bit of welding experience under his belt already, he was able to rise through the ranks a bit faster than his peers to provide a stable income for his 6-year-old daughter.

“This job changed my life. I was able to buy a house, buy an RV, feed my family … get a medical plan,” he said.

Like others in the shipyard, Marquez is a second-generation employee at NASSCO, following his father.

Thomas, who joined earlier this year, also heard about the job through her father, who was already well established at NASSCO. Though they were not as close when Thomas was growing up, their new shared profession is helping them bond, she said.

“It set a line, something to build our relationship off of,” she said. “He has some big shoes to fill.”
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune