Labor Leaders Denounce Gov't Shutdown at Portsmouth Rally

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers found little solace in the deal Congress struck to end the government shutdown Wednesday.

At a rally at Prescott Park Thursday, several federal workers and union leaders said the time has come for the American people to take stock of sequestration and the recent shutdown when they go to the polls in November 2014.

"Sequestration is 10 percent worse than the Paul Ryan budget," said Ron Ault, president of the national Metal Trades Council."Brothers and sisters, it's time for a change in Washington, D.C.," he said.

He said the change has to come when voters head to the polls in the 2014 mid-term Congressional elections.

Paul O'Connor, president of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, said the deal reached by Congress to end the government shutdown was "disgusting."

O'Connor said the 16-day shutdown cost billions of dollars, according to a study done by Standard and Poor 500 Index.

He said shipyard employees embody the spirit of Yankee ingenuity. He said Congress could learn how to work together the way they do at the shipyard.

In three months if another shutdown happens on Jan 15, 2014, O'Connor said it will once again be unfair to the workers who have had to endure furloughs and fear.

"Our message to Congress is this: find a better way," O'Connor said.

Dennis Houde of Eliot, Maine said he was hired in June to work at the shipyard. He said he had never been furloughed before. The bottom line is Congress has to do better.

"We don't need a budget just for the next three months, we need a budget for 2014," Houde said. He said the shipyard should not have to maintain the Navy's submarine fleet with a bandaid approach.

John Joyal, a shipyard worker from Dover, said there has always been unity at the shipyard and that needs to happen on Capitol Hill.

"I have seen such disregard for federal employees as I have lately," said Joyal, who has worked there for 37 years and is a third generation shipyard worker.

He said getting furloughed two weeks ago was very upsetting to him. He said the first day he was furloughed, "I didn't know what to do with myself."

But at the shipyard the workers remain "united to do the people's business" regardless of whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.

"When are you going to do your job, Congress?" Joyal asked.

Following the rally, the shipyard and federal workers marched to Market Square with their signs.