Shipyard workers to vote on contract Wednesday

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - Amid sequestration and budget battles in Washington, shipyard workers in Newport News are one step closer to job security. The United Steelworkers Local 8888 has reached a tentative contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries.

This contract ensures that the 11,000 workers in the union will have a job for the next four years. Union representatives tell WAVY.com the new contract includes raises, cheaper health insurance, and better pension benefits. On Sunday union members got their first look at the new contract, and several say they are pleased with the deal.

"I'm feeling really good about this, because we actually get a better pay raise that is higher than the national average by a full percent you can't beat that," union member James Butch Cassidy said."

"It also provides an added impotence to the community locally. Small businesses will prosper because our members are prospering, and churches will have members who can put more money in the offering plate," Union representative Dwight Kirk said. "It's a win-win."

Members of the United Steelworkers Local 8888 will vote on the new tentative collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday.