Free Republic

Almost 3,000 members of the Machinists Union Local Lodge 2003 are off their jobs today after rejecting a contract offer from L3 Army Fleet Support at Fort Rucker. The strike began Monday due to what union spokesperson Bob Wood said were issues over working conditions, eroding seniority rights and overtime procedures. Union members overwhelmingly voted against the latest contract proposal Sunday night. "The IAM is communicating with our membership and in contact with the company and Federal Mediation in order to build a path forward to resuming negotiations and solving the problems and returning our members to the mission at...

The Navy will take a more aggressive approach to curbing alcohol and drug abuse and continue moving toward a smoke-free force under initiatives announced this afternoon by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. In response to concerns about alcohol abuse, particularly among younger sailors and Marines, the department this year will install Breathalyzers on every ship so that crew members coming aboard to work will be tested. Crew members already on board will be randomly tested. If a sailor is found to be intoxicated, he or she will be subject to counseling and treatment but not formal reprimand or punishment. The machines...

It may seem like a trivial inconvenience in the scheme of things, but it's become routine enough that some sailors aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush say it's affecting their morale, their health and their job performance: Since the ship left for its maiden combat deployment in May, its toilet system has suffered outages so frequently that crew members sometimes can't find a single working commode. Over the weekend, the mother of one Bush sailor became so upset by her son's repeated reports of widespread toilet outages that she blasted a news release about it to reporters across...

I came across this article at Stars and Stripes via CJ Grisham, who is understandably angry — as am I. One would think that after putting up with 20 years of arguably the hardest job one could take on that veterans would have damn well earned their pensions. But oh no, say the civilians, who I’m sure understand fully all of the hardships of the job. We need to take the “lucrative” pensions away. "The military retirement system is unsustainable and in dire need of repair, according to an influential Pentagon advisory board. The Defense Business Board — tasked by...

The director and two stars of the Oscar-nominated "Avatar" flew to the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower last week for a visit and a special screening of the movie in the ship's hangar bay. Actors Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang signed autographs and posed for photos with the crew, according to a Navy news release. They also toured the guided-missile cruiser Hue City. They were accompanied by director James Cameron, producer Jon Landau and Cameron's brother John, a former Marine and the movie's military consultant. The Eisenhower left Norfolk on Jan. 2 for a six-month deployment to the Middle East....

PORTSMOUTH State Sen. Louise Lucas will not be able to use millions of dollars in financing to build a $65 million hotel and conference center in the city. During a charged hearing Tuesday in which investors filled the City Council chambers, Vice Mayor Bill Moody Jr. and council members Elizabeth Psimas and Doug Smith voted against the low-cost financing while Mayor James Holley and Councilman Steve Heretick voted in favor of it. Councilwoman Marlene Randall announced before the vote that she would abstain. Her husband has invested $2,000 in the project. Councilman Charles B. Whitehurst Sr. also abstained. He, too,...