Union-Made Ship (the USS New York) Includes Steel from World Trade Center

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/02/union-made-ship-includes-steel-from-world-trade-center/

Yesterday, the USS New York, the Navy’s most modern troop and equipment transport ship, was christened at Northrop Grumman’s Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. What makes the ship unique is the 7.5 tons of steel taken from the wreckage of the World Trade Center destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks that was cast into the bow of the ship.



There is something else special about the USS New York, says Ron Ault, president of the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department. The hundreds of union members from the unions that make up the New Orleans Metal Trades Council built that ship while they were still dealing with the devastating impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One of those workers is Boilermakers (IBB) member J.F. Martinez, who every night after work went home to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer he and his wife share.

Ault says the government’s failure to rebuild the Gulf Coast and help rebuild the lives of workers like Martinez has gone on far too long. He sent us these thoughts on the highly skilled union workforce that built the USS New York and steps the Bush administration needs to take to rebuild Gulf Coast economy and the lives shattered by the hurricanes.

Our members built the USS New York. They put their blood, sweat and expertise as highly skilled shipbuilders into building the USS New York. Working in a noisy, dangerous, heavy industrial environment with high humidity and air temperatures often hovering at or near 100 degrees, our members take hundreds of tons of raw materials, miles of piping, valves and machinery, cast, forge, form, bend steel plate into complex shapes and weld the hulls into sleek, highly complex, modern warships with offensive capabilities unheard of just a few years ago.

Our members install and test highly classified, sensitive electronics, advanced weapons and propulsion systems in these 21st century naval warships.

Our Metal Trades Council members have built, overhauled and converted thousands of such advanced Navy ships over the past 100 years and we are justifiably proud of the craftsmanship and quality of these ships as they steam out of our shipyards and take their place in the fleet protecting our nation.


FULL story at link.

[brer cat]

1. Excellent post.

Rebuilding the Gulf Coast ecomony needs to be a top priority when the dems are back in the WH.