‘Most of us live paycheck to paycheck.’ Coronavirus anxiety grips Ingalls workers.
As an industry essential to the nation’s defense, Ingalls Shipbuilding continues operations with mounting cases of the novel coronavirus and the difficulty of social distancing at a shipyard.
The company reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 22 from an employee whose last day at work was March 20 on an amphibious assault ship, LPD 29. The shipyard launched another of these ships, LPD 28, on Saturday, reporting its sixth and seventh coronavirus case the same day.
By Wednesday, Ingalls had reported 12 cases of the virus on the shipyard, where 11,500 are employed. Countywide, Jackson County’s COVID-19 cases more than doubled in five days, reaching 52 on Wednesday and for the first time surpassing Harrison County’s.
Ingalls is not independently having employees tested for the virus, the company confirmed, so there is no way to know how widely it might have spread in the shipyard. The incubation period for COVID-19 is up to 14 days. Also, some individuals carrying the virus have no symptoms.
The Mississippi State Health Department says it is dispatching workers to track the virus and its spread, but they have not been on site at Ingalls, said media relations manager Teckie Hinkebein.
The state health department is providing guidance to Ingalls, department communications director Liz Sharlot said.
“We don’t have a specific group assigned just to Ingalls as we are seeing cases and hospitalizations throughout the state.,” Sharlot said in an email response to Sun Herald questions. “Our resources are devoted to testing, identifying positive cases, and looking for possible exposure and performing contact tracing and isolation and quarantine.”
Ingalls has medical professionals screening employees who get sick at work, checking their temperatures and looking for coronavirus symtoms, Hinkebein said. Employees who test positive for COVID-19 are quarantined and employees with whom they have come in contact are asked to self-quarantine.
The company is deep cleaning areas where infected employees worked, plus cleaning facilities and equipment at night and on weekends throughout the yard, Hinkebein said. The company also is extending time off without pay to those who are afraid of catching the virus and do not want to report to work.
“You just have to come to work and take a chance,” said Tommy Bates, an Ingalls machinist who is chief union steward of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace, Local 1133. “That’s what we’re all doing right now ...
“Most of us live paycheck to paycheck, so we have to be here.”
Workers are anxious
Ingalls, which has has 11 ships under construction, is reporting novel coronavirus cases on its website. Two of those infected worked on the LPD 29 ship and one on the just-launched LPD 28.
Three employees who tested positive worked on the NSC 9, with the most recent diagnosis from the U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter coming Wednesday. In three other cases, employees worked in covered surface areas.
Cases also have been reported on the DDG 125, an Aegis destroyer; in an office trailer and at a test facility.
“Workers are anxious,” said Jimmy Hart, president of the national Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, in Washington, the parent organization of the union council that represents 6,000 Ingalls workers. “When they’re anxious, they need to see their union in the field, they need to see their leaders in the field. Unfortunately, you don’t want to be in the field if you’ve got a chance of spreading the virus.
“Social distancing in a shipyard is very hard to accommodate. We work in tight quarters and we work with heavy materials, heavy pipe. We do a lot of lifting.”
Ingalls workers try to protect themselves from the coronavirus on one hand, he said, while on the other working as a team to protect one another as they perform jobs that can be hazardous. It’s a balance, Hart said.
Social distancing not always possible
Machinist Bates also said maintaining a 6-foot distance, as experts have suggested, is difficult on the shipyard.
“I’m doing my part to stay in the office unless somebody needs me,” he said. “I really don’t know to what extent work is going on. I know the workforce is down.
“Pretty much everyone is here because they have to be financially. The ones who could afford to take the liberal leave are doing so.”
He said Ingalls is doing its part to keep workers safe, although the company could probably do more. He did not elaborate. And, he pointed out, the virus is everywhere. “It’s just not in the shipyard.”
The shipyard is taking new measures to contain COVID-19. Ingalls is adding a paid day off to the Easter holiday, with workers off from April 9-14.
“Hopefully, this added time period during the Easter break will provide you with more quality time with your family.” Brian Cuccias, president of Ingalls, said in a message to employees posted online. “It will also give us the time required to expand our additional, preventative cleaning throughout the yard, offices and offsite locations.”
While the state finally came under shelter-in-place orders Wednesday, work at Ingalls will continue.
“No operations have closed,” Hinkebein said. “We have been identified as a critical and mission-essential industry that supports the critical needs of our nation.
“Those needs have not changed and this was recognized by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy. Staying operational continues that important support which extends to our thousands of suppliers in nearly every state.
“We’re committed to continuing to do this important work while continuing to safeguard our workforce.”
Staff writer Mary Perez contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
