Layoffs at a St. Mary Parish-based shipbuilder happened this month, and state officials say they're offering help to any employees who need help finding work.
Next week, an orientation for former employees of Swiftships will be held on March 1 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at SLCC Young Memorial Campus in Morgan City. A mini job fair will be held after that, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the same location.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission confirmed a February 2 layoff with the company this week, and began working on sessions to help affected people to find a new job quickly. The sessions will include information on re-employment services such as: Local Labor Market Information, Career Assessments, Resume Writing and Job Search Assistance, Career Counseling, Job Search Workshops, Training Opportunities and Unemployment Insurance Information, a spokesperson told us.
If a worker was laid off due to no fault of their own, they can file a claim for unemployment here: LaWorks.net
And, if it’s been a while since they’ve had to look for a job, they could take a skills assessment to help them identify their most marketable skills. The LWC website features a powerful skills analyzer tool that will help them match their skills to current job openings in Louisiana, a spokesperson said.
The U.S. Navy ordered Swiftships, the builder of its Landing Craft Utility 1700 program to stop work and moved to terminate the contract, following years of challenges and disagreements on the program, Defense News reported this week.
The yard has laid off nearly 100 workers related to the LCU program since January and is considering actions to dispute the Navy’s termination of the contract, hoping to get back into a settlement process, Defense News reports here.
According to the publication, Swiftships won the LCU competition in March 2018, with the Navy awarding a contract for $18 million for the detail design and the construction of the first craft. The yard also received follow-on contracts, one in 2019 worth $26.7 million for the next two craft, and another in 2020 worth $50.1 million for four more. According to interviews with and documentation provided by Swiftships, Naval Sea Systems Command on Nov. 9 raised the possibility of terminating the program.
Defense News further reports that NAVSEA wrote that the shipyard was not making progress on LCU production and offered to reach a settlement that would include Swiftships turning over parts and material delivered by its vendors. On Jan. 24, NAVSEA issued a stop-work order on the program, according to documentation provided by Swiftships to Defense News, and on Feb. 20 the command formally notified the yard of its decision to terminate the contract.
Defense News also reported that, in its notification to Swiftships, NAVSEA wrote the first three craft were supposed to be delivered by June, September and December 2023, but are still incomplete. NAVSEA declined to comment to Defense News.
To read the full Defense News story, with all the details and more information, click here.
