Builder Of Oil Tankers To Drop Workers In Philly

The Philadelphia Inquirer:  Due to a lack in new orders for ships, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard will be letting go of an as yet undisclosed number of workers.  The company currently employs more than 1,000.

With only three tankers currently under construction, Aker has some work, but not enough to keep its entire staff on the payroll.  The last ship of the three is scheduled for a 2012 completion date.

Aker CEO Jim Miller blames his company’s woes on tight credit, the lack of demand for oil tankers, and a precipitous decline in demand for petroleum products, not to mention the near shut down of much of the country’s off-shore drilling.

According to one union official interviewed for the piece, the contract in place between Aker and the Philadelphia Metal Trades Council requires that all subcontractor employees, some 500 of them, must be laid off before the full time shipyard employees.