Tentative union contract reached at Newport News Shipbuilding

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - The union representing nearly 11,000 workers at Newport News Shipbuilding has reached a tentative agreement with Huntington Ingalls Industries on a new contract.

Officials with United Steelworkers Local 8888 announced the new, 52-month contract on Saturday.

Media outlets report that the existing contract that has been in place since Oct. 27, 2008, was set to expire at midnight Sunday. The proposed agreement would increase wages, improve workers' pensions, contain health-care costs and bolster promotional opportunities.

Union members will vote on the proposed contract next week.

There were concerns sequestration might stop negotiations, but a union representative told WAVY.com shipyard workers aren't out of woods just yet. Union workers are concerned about sequesters cuts to social programs they rely on like Head Start, and Medicare, and Medicaid. The union workers' employer, Huntington Ingalls could also still be affected by the sequester.

"Without a solution in Washington, their employer Huntington Ingalls is in a very, very serious situation in terms of having funding to complete projects that they are currently working on and projects that has been allocated to come through shipyard," Chief Negotiator for the United Steelworkers, Fred Redmond said.

Huntington Ingalls is the nation's largest military shipbuilder and Virginia's largest industrial employer. Its Newport News Shipbuilding unit is the nation's only builder of aircraft carriers and one of two submarine builders.