The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, applauds Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) and the members of the House Armed Services Committee who voted to advance an amendment prohibiting the Department of Defense from using Navy shipbuilding funds to contract for battle force ships built in foreign shipyards.
The amendment protects American shipbuilding jobs, strengthens the domestic industrial base, and recognizes the critical role U.S. shipyards play in supporting our nation’s defense.
The Department thanks Representative Golden for his leadership and every member of the Committee who supported the amendment. Their vote affirms American naval vessels should be built in American shipyards by American workers.
For generations, skilled union shipbuilders have designed, built, maintained, and modernized the vessels that defend our nation. America’s shipbuilding workforce remains one of our country’s greatest strategic assets. Protecting that workforce and the shipyards where they work must remain a national priority.
The Committee’s action comes at an important time. Demand for naval vessels continues to grow, public and private shipyards face workforce shortages, and the nation is working to rebuild industrial capacity that has been allowed to erode for decades. Maintaining a strong domestic shipbuilding industry requires long-term investment in facilities, workforce development, apprenticeships, and manufacturing.
While the Committee advanced important shipbuilding priorities, concerns remain regarding proposed changes to the Federal Wage System.
The NDAA includes language authorizing a personnel demonstration project that could move portions of the public shipyard workforce away from the long-established Federal Wage System and toward pay banding and broader management discretion over compensation and classification decisions.
The Metal Trades Department supports efforts to improve recruitment and retention. Public shipyards need additional workers, faster hiring, expanded training opportunities, and competitive compensation. Those challenges are real.
Weakening a system that provides transparency, consistency, and accountability is not the answer.
For decades, the Federal Wage System has established clear standards for pay, qualifications, and advancement for federal blue-collar workers. Employees understand how they progress. Unions participate in the wage-setting process. Workers have confidence that compensation decisions are based on objective standards rather than subjective judgment.
The Department remains concerned that pay banding and expanded management discretion could reduce transparency, weaken worker confidence, and create opportunities for favoritism. Any effort to modernize personnel systems must preserve fairness, accountability, and the protections that federal workers have earned.
As the NDAA moves forward, the Metal Trades Department will continue working with members of Congress to strengthen domestic shipbuilding, expand workforce development, protect federal workers, and preserve the integrity of the Federal Wage System.
The Committee took an important step forward in protecting American shipbuilding jobs. Congress should continue building on that progress by investing in the workforce that builds, repairs, and maintains the fleet that keeps our nation secure.
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