March 8 - Fighting for Better Wages, Hours and Working Conditions

On this day in labor history, the year was 2007.

That was the day that seven thousand workers at the Northrop Grumman, a shipyard company in Pascagoula, Mississippi went out on strike.

Grumman is one of the largest defense contractors in the world.

The workers were members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 733 and the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council.

They were still reeling from the ravages of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. 

The hurricane had devastated the Mississippi gulf coast and sent prices for housing skyrocketing.

But while workers suffered, Katrina brought $3 billion in federal contracts to Northrop Grumman to repair hurricane damage.

Despite this, Grumman proposed a four-year contract for the workers with no raises and increased health care costs. For many workers this did not sit well. 

They knew the company had received massive government contracts, but still was not willing to treat workers fairly at the bargaining table.

The union members rejected the offer and voted to strike.

The company came back with a proposal offering small raises, which did not keep pace with the cost of living.

The strike was called. 

For four weeks workers marched and manned the picket lines.

During the strike the company cut off the worker’s health care coverage.

The company offered slightly higher wages and reduced the increases to health care coverage. 

Although the proposal was not enough to keep up with the soaring local cost of living, union members voted to end the strike and accept the offer.