Members of United Steelworkers on Tuesday ratified a new, five-year labor contract with Newport News Shipbuilding.
United Steelworkers Local 8888 represents more than 10,000 shipbuilders at the Newport News shipyard, the country’s only manufacturer of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Terms of the new contract will remain in place until Feb. 7, 2027, and include wage increases, bonuses, a three-year freeze on employee healthcare premiums and additional annual leave.
“With this new contract in place, we are more focused than ever on tackling our complex work and meeting our Navy commitments in support of America’s defense,” Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin said in a letter to shipbuilders Tuesday. “And we do it best when we do it together.”
The contract comes after members rejected a tentative agreement in November 2021.
Newport News Shipbuilding is a division of Fortune 500 military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries. As Virginia’s largest industrial employer, HII employs more than 44,000 workers.