KITTERY (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is going to get a firsthand look at work done at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard before another possible round of base closings.
Union leader Paul O’Connor, who invited the vice president, said he wants Biden to see the collaboration between managers and workers to improve performance. He says such techniques could be used elsewhere in the federal government.
“We are living proof that collaboration ”“ working together, finding ways to resolve issues ”“ is far more beneficial than being adversarial and confrontational,” said O’Connor, president of the Metal Trades Council, which represents 2,500 of the shipyard’s 6,000 workers. “We can accomplish so much more working together. That’s the core of our philosophy.”
The vice president is expected to spend about two hours in the shipyard on Wednesday and will address workers.
Joining Biden at the shipyard on an island in the river that separates Maine and New Hampshire will be Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, along with Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud of Maine. Shaheen, Shea-Porter and Pingree are up for re-election, and Michaud is running for governor in Maine.
Biden is a potential 2016 Democratic candidate for president and trips to the politically important shipyard have become a popular stop for those seeking their party’s nomination.
The 214-year-old Navy yard that repairs and overhauls nuclear submarines in Kittery, Maine, has survived three reviews from the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, including the most recent in 2005.
The defense department has pressed for another round, but has been rebuffed by Congress.
O’Connor wants to showcase two proposals that together save $5 million a year. They involve creation of learning centers including a mock sub hull in which new workers can train and a new system of pre-staging tools and equipment needed by workers each day, O’Connor said.
“We’re just scratching the surface,” he said. “We have a long away to go. We’re expecting great things from our workforce. We really, truly want our philosophies to spread beyond the shipyard.”
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