Usw News

US Watercraft, the commercial boatbuilding division of Waterline Systems, said it is building a new oyster farm support vessel for Matheson Oyster Co., a sustainable oyster farm located in Virginia.Matheson Oyster came to the Hubert, N.C. boatbuilder with a specific request: build a low-freeboard vessel that can hold position safely and travel quickly in the choppy waters of Chesapeake Bay.US Watercraft’s 26-foot aquaculture support vessel design is the result of a series of conversations with the Matheson Oyster crew, where the builder learned about Matheson's innovative farming methods.

Solid-State Welding Processes Being Developed for NASA Manufacturing Programs Could Significantly Reduce Workboat Fabrication CostsWhether it is for a tug boat, cargo vessel, or an offshore supply ship, much of the workboat fabrication industry is located along the Southern Coast of the U.S. But a visit to any one of the workboat facilities in that area (or any other in the country) would reveal antiquated and archaic fabrication processes used seventy years ago. The workboat manufacturing process is very expensive, labor intensive, and has not really changed since World War II.

Union workers at Exxon Mobil Corp's Beaumont, Texas, refinery agreed to an unusually long six-year contract on Thursday night, which sources say the company pushed to assure no work stoppages during a contemplated multibillion-dollar expansion. Members of United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 13-243 voted by secret ballot on the contract offer, which is two years longer than the national agreement reached by the USW and U.S. refinery owners in March. The 800 Exxon employees represented by Local 13-243 have been working on a rolling 24-hour extension of the contract that expired on Jan. 31. "The members did an outstanding job of standing strong with the leadership," Darrell Kyle, president of Local 13-243, said. An Exxon spokesman praised the agreement.

The largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years entered its fourth week on Sunday as workers at 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of national production capacity were walking picket lines. Sources familiar with the negotiations said talks may resume by mid-week to end the walkout by 6,550 members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) at 15 plants, including the 12 refineries. Representatives of both sides said no date has been set to restart negotiations, however. The strike comes as U.S. workers seek more pay in a strengthening economy. Wal-Mart Stores Inc has said its U.S. workers will get a raise to at least $9 an hour, while West Coast port workers have reached a tentative deal for a new contract after a months-long dispute. The refinery work stoppage began on Feb.

Union negotiators on Thursday rejected the latest contract offer from oil companies and said the largest U.S. refinery strike since 1980 may spread to more plants beyond the 11 where walkouts are underway. The United Steelworkers union (USW) said in a message to members and news media that the latest proposal from lead oil company negotiator Royal Dutch Shell Plc failed to improve safety at refineries and chemical plants in an "enforceable way." The union also told workers not on strike to be prepared to walk out in the coming days. Reporting by Erwin Seba

U.S. oil refinery managers are going to the mats, literally, during the biggest fight with union workers in 35 years, bedding down for a third strike week that experts and some employees say raises concerns over safety and operations. At the 135,000 barrel-per-day refinery just outside of Toledo, Ohio, run by BP Plc and Husky Energy Inc , most of the nearly 300-person staff have been calling the refinery home since Feb. 9. For the last week, they have slept on recently purchased mattresses inside rental trailers to rapidly respond to any problems and avoid striking workers, sources say. On Tuesday, a van full of washing and drying machines gingerly cut through about a dozen United Steelworkers carrying pickets and walking a strike line at the facility's front gate.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the United Steelworkers union (USW) negotiated for hours on Tuesday over a new labor contract for U.S. refinery workers, the company said on day 10 of the biggest refinery walkout since 1980. They have been unable to agree since this year's talks started on Jan. 21 on the size of wage increases and how to monitor worker fatigue, which is tied to accidents and can be handled through overtime pay or adding workers. Shell is the lead representative for oil companies at the negotiations for a three-year pact that would cover 30,000 workers at 63 plants. The union wants wage increases, a tighter safety policy, and reductions in non-union contractors working in refineries.

Workers represented by the Building Trades Unions will return to Marathon Petroleum Corp's refinery in Catlettsburg, Kentucky on Monday, even as a strike by the United Steelworkers drags into a second week, documents obtained by Reuters show. The USW began a strike Feb. 1 at nine refineries and chemical plants, including Marathon's 240,000 barrel-a-day Kentucky plant. Buildings Trades Unions' workers will not be replacing striking workers' running the plant, according to the letter. While the Building Trades Unions say they continue to support the USW's cause, their return work comes at a sensitive time for the steelworkers as their strike enters a second week. The backing of the building unions is considered crucial for a successful strike nationally, a person familiar with refining said.

With just a week of bargaining left until the national contract for U.S. refinery workers expires, the United Steelworkers union (USW) said talks with oil company representatives for a new pact were going slow, according to a Twitter message sent to members. "It's time for the industry to get serious about addressing issues that matter to USW members," the message said. The USW rejected the first industry proposal on Friday, calling it "inadequate and offensive," according to a message sent to members. A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the lead negotiator for U.S. refinery owners, confirmed that an initial offer had been made to the USW, but declined to discuss details.

Sparton Corporation has been awarded a Phase 1 contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Upward Falling Payload (UFP) program. Sparton, under the UFP program, will design a system intended to live on the sea floor and release payloads. This enablement is thought to represent a game changing capability for mission commanders. The company say it is energized by the opportunity and eager for the collaboration to execute on the delivery system module, in which they will be assisted by the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington to provide additional deep ocean design expertise. “We have enjoyed working and collaborating with Sparton several times over the past few years and we are pleased to be working with them again…

True North Yachts, a Division of US Watercraft, LLC, announced its new flagship, the True North 50, the newest 50 foot power yacht to be added to the 2014 product line. The True North line currently consists of 34 foot and 38 foot model yachts. In coordination with Langan Design Partners, True North Yachts designed the TN50 to revolutionize their line by making the appearance more contemporary, focusing on the enjoyment of being outdoors, ease of ownership, safety, and comfort at sea, the company said.

Unions representing workers around the globe in the mining and maritime industries announced that they will protest shipment of goods to and from Mexico to pressure the Mexican government to end its support of corporate attempts to destroy the National Miners' and Metalworkers' Union of Mexico known as Los Mineros. The unions, representing hundreds of thousands of dockworkers and miners in North America, South Africa, Australia and the UK, plan to conduct demonstrations in countries as diverse as the U.S. and New Zealand. The Mexican government is backing Grupo Mexico, that nation's largest mining corporation and the third largest copper producer in the world…

Science Applications International Corp., Technology Services Co. (SAIC/TSC), San Diego is being awarded a $40,102,809 indefinite-delivery and indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee ceiling for software development and systems engineering support to the Anti-Submarine Warfare Control System Mk 116 program, Computer-Aided Dead Reckoning Tracer project, and other related programs and projects at the Surface Ship Undersea Warfare (USW) program office, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division. Work will be performed in Dahlgren, Va. (95 percent) and San Diego (5 percent), and is to be completed by December 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This effort combines support of the U.S.