About 3,500 civilian workers have been furloughed from the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington due to the federal
government shutdown, according to the US Navy.
Furlough notice provisions were handed out to affected
shipyard workers on Oct. 1 the day the shutdown began, and the base suspended
apprentice and helper training classes.
“Due to a lapse in federal funding, many federal employees
have been furloughed. Under the furlough notice provisions employees are not
permitted to come to the work area while furloughed,” read a statement posted
Oct. 1 on the shipyard’s official Facebook page. “Many of our apprentices,
helpers, and instructors are in a furlough status therefore we have found it
necessary to curtail apprentice and helper classes until the federal funding
issue is resolved.”
In an online post the night before the government shutdown
went into effect, Acting Commander Capt. James Lee said that about 3,500 Naval
Shipyard personnel would receive furlough letters at work.
Shipyard personnel who support activities that are exempted
from the shutdown continue to work, although they won’t be paid until after the
shutdown ends. Lee’s post said those workers “will be paid retroactively once
the lapse of appropriations ends.”
The shipyard, which has a workforce of about 10,700, had
recently announced it would be hiring 1,073 helper trainees, but that’s now on
hold.
If the funding lapse is not resolved by Oct 6, the
shipyard’s apprentice classes will be curtailed, according to the shipyard.
