Norfolk, VA. IBEW Workers Laid Off Because of Budget Cuts

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-70432sy0feb22,0,5087161.story

NASA contractors start layoffs linked to budget
Dozens of workers lost their jobs at Langley last week, and more will be let go in the near future.

BY DAVE SCHLECK, Hampton Roads Daily Press, February 22, 2005


HAMPTON -- About 50 contractors were laid off at NASA Langley Research Center on Thursday, with more layoffs expected this week.

Jacobs Sverdrup, a Tennessee-based company with 450 local employees, is expected to lay off as much as a third of its work force on or before March 1.

"You'd have a more complete story if you waited until the end of the week," Jeff Long, general manager for Jacobs Sverdrup, said Monday.

Contractor employees like Cathy Roberts of Smithfield said they were going through different stages of grief after the first round of job cuts.

"First you think this isn't happening," said Roberts, who is losing her job as project manager for information technology development. "Then you get angry. Why me? Then you get to a point where, today, I'm very happy about the future."

Roberts, whose last official workday was Friday, spent the Presidents Day holiday at home working on her resume.

In May 2004, Jacobs Sverdrup started as the prime contractor for research operations, maintenance and engineering at Langley's five largest wind tunnels - also known as the ROME contract. Subcontractors include Springfield-based Tessada and Associates, Hampton-based Analytical Systems and Materials, and Ohio-based Sierra Lobo.

All are affected by the layoffs, Long said.

Langley's 2005 budget dropped 14 percent from 2004, with more cuts projected for the coming years. NASA's new space exploration vision is hurting centers like Langley that were founded on aeronautics research.

"While NASA is looking at every option that they can to trim the cost, the only pot of money that they have that they can act quickly on is procurement money," Long said. "Procurement money for the most part means contractors."

Long declined to give more details other than saying his company's handling of the layoffs was getting positive feedback from unions such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Roberts said her boss at Tassada and Associates told her Thursday that she was on the layoff list. Long and workers with the Virginia Employment Commission also visited her office off Magruder Boulevard in Hampton. Roberts described her severance pay as the equivalent of a small year-end bonus.

"This week, they are helping us by providing a daylong seminar with a career transition consultant," she said. "This kind of thing is never easy, but they are making it as painless as possible."

It hasn't been easy for contractor bosses either, said Jalaiah Unnam, president of Analytical Services and Materials, which employs 190 people in Hampton. Six of Unnam's workers lost their jobs last week, with more on the way, said Unnam, who has been president of the company since its inception in 1983.

"It's a holiday, but my administrative assistant and I are here getting ready for this week," he said. "It's not a happy thing."

The ROME contract is not the only Langley business deal affected by the budget cuts.

Scott Warrington, a graphics designer for Lockheed Martin, recently received a layoff notice after working at Langley for 16 years. The 38-year-old's last day is March 4. Working at Langley was his first paying job, and now he's busy posting his resume on the Internet and applying with other contractors.

"I don't like that it's happening, but I can understand it to a point," said Warrington, who lives in Poquoson. "There's only so much money and government employees. Their salaries have be taken care of first."

But government employees may be the next to go. The proposed 2006 budget includes more cuts for Langley, with a combination of 1,000 contractors and government workers in danger of losing their jobs. The research center employs about 3,900 workers.

Roberts, who feels settled in her Smithfield home of five years, would like to find another job in Hampton Roads.

"Around here, the job market is not that great," she said. "All the work is government-based. That just doesn't look good right now."

Copyright © 2005, Daily Press