Congressional delegations from New Hampshire and Maine recently united to push for new good-paying jobs at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. U.S. Senators and Representatives from both states sent a letter urging the Department of the Navy to begin an “aggressive hiring program” to expand the Shipyard’s civilian workforce.

Dated Jan. 13, the letter suggests that adding jobs at the Shipyard will enhance performance standards and cost effectiveness while reducing reliance on overtime. “Increasing the workforce will increase the availability of submarines to the operational fleet, reduce costs resulting from emergency repairs or unplanned maintenance, and enhance project execution time,” the letter reads.

The letter cites a report from the Rand Corporation indicating that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has the highest reliance on overtime of any public shipyard in the country. The report concluded that hiring more employees is more cost effective than an “excessive reliance” on overtime, hiring temporary employees or borrowing workers from other shipyards.

The report also indicates that hiring new workers will be necessary to replace aging and retiring employees. According to the report, 50 percent of the Shipyard’s workforce will be eligible for retirement within the next 10 years. In order to replace those workers, the Shipyard must hire at least 190 new workers per year for the next five years.

The letter encourages the Department of the Navy to hire qualified craftsmen who have lost their jobs in the private sector due to current economic conditions. “(T)he Navy should take a leadership role to ensure that these professionals and their talents, which have been developed through decades of training and experience, are not lost forever as a national resource,” it reads.
The letter’s signatories included U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Michael Michaud (D-Maine), Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) and Paul Hodes (D-N.H). It was sent to Navy Secretary Donald Winter and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead.