Shaheen, Collins Call on Navy to Reconsider Civilian Workforce Classification Review, Protect Employee Pay and Benefits at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Navy Caucus, and Susan Collins (R-ME) sent a bipartisan letter to the U.S. Department of the Navy urging it 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 Operation Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Senators note that the review could result in civilian employees losing pay and benefits as well as negatively impact efforts to eliminate submarine maintenance backlogs.
The Senators wrote, in part: “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. 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.”
They concluded: “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 full text of the letter can be found here.
As a co-chair of the U.S. Senate Navy Caucus and a senior member of both the U.S. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Shaheen is New Hampshire’s strongest advocate for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Navy shipbuilding programs. In the Senate-passed Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, Shaheen secured funding for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), including the funding needed to complete dry dock projects at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The bill also includes $795 million for the SIOP above the President’s Budget, which will help to increase submarine maintenance availability at Portsmouth and across the country. Shaheen has a long legacy of supporting investments to increase maintenance capacity at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Additionally, In the FY 2025 government funding bills, Shaheen and Collins worked to include a $9.5 million Congressionally Directed Spending add for a new parking structure at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard—which will contribute to quality of life for Shipyard’s workforce.
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