Shaheen: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard exempted from hiring freeze by the Pentagon
PORTSMOUTH — The Department of Defense has exempted the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the Trump administration’s federal workforce hiring freeze after several weeks of uncertainty.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, announced the exemption Tuesday in Portsmouth at a conference dedicated to the trilateral submarine agreement between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom known as AUKUS. It was welcome news for the 7,000-plus civilian employees at the local shipyard, where union representatives awaited guidance as the federal government handed down workforce-related directives.
“We think that’s good news for the shipyard. Obviously we need to continue to follow up and make sure that that continues and that we are on top of it,” Shaheen said.
The Seacoast Shipyard Association stated last year that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard needs to hire 550 workers annually for the foreseeable future to meet the workload demand on Seavey Island, where a $1.8 billion dry dock expansion is increasing the capacity to overhaul nuclear submarines.
Leader of largest union at shipyard remains concerned
Union heads at the shipyard and New Hampshire’s congressional delegation have fought in recent weeks for the exemption.
Alana Schaeffer, president of the Metal Trades Council, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's largest union with more than 3,500 workers, said Tuesday the yard is "far from business as usual" despite news of the exemption.
"This allows for very minor exemptions and comes nowhere near addressing the larger issue. We have not seen any guidance on these exemptions and, to my knowledge, is targeted towards a handful of positions the Department of Defense has deemed 'mission critical,'" she said in a statement.
"Let’s be clear. Every position at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is critical to our mission," Schaeffer added Tuesday. "From the entry-level mechanic to the secretary to the engineers writing our paperwork, every worker plays a vital role in what makes us the gold standard for maintenance, repair, and modernization of our nation’s nuclear-powered submarines. The fact remains that Portsmouth Naval Shipyard needs to hire 550 workers a year for the foreseeable future and without this ability, we will not be able to meet the Navy’s needs, and this will directly impact our national security."
Bill Webber, president of the American Federation of Government Employees at the shipyard, reported last week that six of his union members were laid off as the Trump administration cut probationary employees. The yard union represents numerous non-engineer and non-trades employees, including those in administrative positions, training instructors, travel assistants, shipyard police department officers and secretaries.
Multiple federal judges have since ordered the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to reinstate all probationary federal workers whose jobs were cut.
Congressional leaders speak in support of shipyard workers
All four members of New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation attended and spoke at the AUKUS symposium at the AC Hotel downtown Tuesday.
“We're going to stay on the issue, because I think it's been a moving target with respect to this administration,” added Rep. Chris Pappas in an interview about the hiring freeze exemption. “We want to ensure that we're protecting the jobs and the important work that's going on at the shipyard. They have been seeing new construction over there that's going to expand drydock space in their capacity to rehabilitate Virginia-class submarines and to be able to accept the next generation of nuclear-powered submarines. That's really critical to our national defense and to the ways that we support our allies and confront aggression around the world.”
Rep. Maggie Goodlander, a former intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, spoke to the role of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workforce.
“I know just how hard the men and women of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard work,” Goodlander said in an interview. “They have extremely difficult, extremely important jobs, and the last thing they need is to face uncertainty and chaos in their daily life. The attacks on the federal workforce across the board, including and especially the people who have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe and to doing the hard and sometimes thankless work that has to be done in our shipyards and at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, it is beyond wrong. It is not normal, and it's something that I'm working with every tool I've got to fight against.”
Goodlander and Pappas were part of a 14-Democrat group from the U.S. House of Representatives to request President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth exempt all four public shipyards from recent federal orders, including civilian layoffs and the hiring freeze, in a March 14 letter.
What is AUKUS agreement? And what is Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's role?
The Biden-era AUKUS agreement was launched in September 2021. The phased plan includes the United States selling to Australia between three to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines before Australia and the United Kingdom develop their own submarine model using U.S. naval technology.
U.S. Navy personnel traveled to HMAS Stirling, an Australian naval base in Garden Island, earlier in March, according to Pappas. With a focus on protecting the Indo-Pacific region from adversaries, Pappas stated U.S. and United Kingdom submarine rotations at HMAS Stirling will begin in 2027. The base’s fleet, to be known as “Submarine Rotational Force - West,” will include one United Kingdom submarine and up to four U.S. nuclear-powered submarines, according to the Australian government.
Pappas said the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard will serve as a “key player” in the AUKUS deal to “sustain and repair” Virginia-class submarines in the coming years.
“It's a long-term agreement, and there are a couple pillars to the agreement around making sure that our private and public sectors are working together ultimately with the end goal of deploying more submarines through the agreement that will help Australia and the (United Kingdom),” Pappas told reporters after his formal remarks. “The capacity that we're building at Portsmouth is going to be incredibly important as we think about how we rehabilitate our submarine fleet, how we make sure that it can continue to be out there and confront the threats that exist.”
AUKUS could present opportunity for NH defense contractors
Tuesday’s conference offered New Hampshire businesses a chance to learn about the AUKUS deal and see where their services may be needed in helping advance and support the allies’ partnership. Representatives from Australia attended Tuesday's event in Portsmouth, including Heather Ridout, a consul-general in New York, and Phoebe Greentree, minister counsellor for AUKUS at the Australian Embassy.
Representatives of state defense contractors, including the family-owned Granite State Manufacturing, and representatives from the New Hampshire Aerospace & Defense Consortium attended the conference.
Hassan, Pappas express confidence AUKUS agreement will hold
Given recent tensions between the Trump administration and numerous allies, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan was asked Tuesday whether the AUKUS agreement will move forward as planned.
“We had a very productive meeting before the formal remarks this morning,” Hassan said in an interview. “It is really important for us to reinforce to our freedom-loving allies around the globe that we are here, that we want to work with them and that these relationships, including the AUKUS agreement, are critically important to our country’s national security, as well as theirs. I thought you heard today … real commitment to making sure that we keep working together. The community of Portsmouth (and) the state of New Hampshire is no stranger to making sure that citizens really do the work to stay engaged with freedom-loving people here at home and around the world, and I’m sure we'll continue to do that.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in February stated Trump was supportive of the AUKUS agreement, according to a Reuters report.
Pappas believes his House colleagues are “truly committed” to advancing the AUKUS deal through future federal funding.
“I think this agreement is a no-brainer because it builds on our long-standing alliance and cooperation. It's good for our economy and our national security. There's deep bipartisan support in the Congress for it,” he said.
The conference occurred less than a mile from Albacore Park, dedicated to the USS Albacore research submarine that launched in August 1953 and served as the Navy’s prototype for its eventual nuclear-powered submarine fleet.