Sen. Sherrod Brown and Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan joined with labor leaders to support a proposed plan to build a shipyard in Lorain that could repair U.S. Navy submarines during a May 2 rally at the Black River Landing.
The Bartlett Maritime Plan would be a joint public/private venture that, if approved, could bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to Lorain and Lordstown where workers would repair navy submarines.
The U.S. Navy currently can’t keep up the maintenance of its fleet’s ships and submarines and experts say it’s created a risk to national security. The addition of the shipyard in Lorain and another repair facility in Lordstown would help the Navy get more of its fleet back out to sea quicker. The project would also bring back good-paying labor jobs to two communities that crumbled as those jobs have been exported overseas.
Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley served as the emcee at the rally, which was attended by hundreds of union workers along with state and local politicians.
“We had the president of the United States here a few months ago,” Bradley said, referring to a recent visit by Joe Biden. “He doesn’t just come to Lorain, Ohio, because he wants to see what we are doing in Lorain. He comes here because he believes in our city and believes in the workforce that we have in Lorain County.”
Bradley said Biden told him “that better days are ahead for Lorain, Ohio.”
Bringing a shipyard to Lorain would be a huge step in that direction.
Kaptur, the longest-serving female in Congress, who along with Ryan sits on the Defense Committee, touched on the threat the U.S. faces if it can’t maintain its naval fleet.
According to Kaptur, “on any given day” the U.S. Navy has 40 to 50 submarines on patrol.
However, maintaining those subs is a problem
“We only have four shipyards. We used to have 11. So our shipyards have been cut by 60 percent. If we don’t have shipyards, we don’t have a ready defense,” Kaptur said.
Kaptur went on to say currently when a ship goes into drydock for repairs it will stay there for a year.
“We do not have enough workers to do a job,” Kaptur said.
And while the U.S. struggles to maintain its fleet, China and Russia are ramping up theirs. China has 80 subs, she said, and Russia has a plan by 2027 to increase its number 60.
“We know we have to retool. We rebuild America from the inside out, and what better place than here, which is the home of Admiral Ernest King,” said Kaptur referring to the Lorain native who served as the Navy’s second in command during World War II.
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Robert Frick, who works with Bartlett Maritime, called the proposed shipyard “a major initiative to strengthen and maintain our national security. It is directly related to our national security.”
Jimmy Hart, national president of the AFL-CIO Metal Trade Union, said the health of the country depends on bringing back good-paying jobs to the United States. This project would be a start toward that.
“For too, too long our communities have been neglected,” Hart said. “(We) are here today to announce the rebirth of the American maritime union here in Lorain, Ohio.”
Hart said politicians like Brown and Ryan could act as a “murderer’s row.” The two could pressure the Navy and the president to approve the project.
Hart said all U.S. ports should be used to drive industry and manufacturing and not just the ports on the east and west coasts. He said ports in the Great Lakes today are often used for nothing more than to house parks and eateries with good views.
“Why is not every port built with thriving jobs, manufacturing jobs, jobs to support families, jobs where people can go out and be truly a part of their communities,” said Hart.
Navy personnel also are suffering as a result of the maintenance crisis. A recent spate of suicides by sailors on the USS George Washington under repair in Newport News, Va., is being blamed on ship conditions. Sailors have been forced to remain on the ship when it’s under repair and subjected to deplorable living conditions, triggering depression and then suicide, according to Hart.
Brown called Lorain “industrial America.”
“They started building ships here 200 years ago,” Brown noted.
Brown, who grew up in Mansfield, harkened back to the days of his youth when communities like Lorain and Youngstown were booming with good-paying manufacturing jobs. From there he pivoted and talked about the recent passage of Biden’s infrastructure bill and what it will mean for American workers.
“No longer will we build bridges made of Chinese steel. No longer will we invest in infrastructure made by workers somewhere else. If you’re going to spend U.S. tax dollars on water and sewer systems, on bridges, on highways, on replacing water pipes contaminated with lead, if you are going to build those projects…they are going to be built by U.S. workers,” Brown said, using products made in the U.S. as well.
Ryan used his time in part to talk about the history of Ohio labor stepping up when the country is in crisis.
“We’ve always shown up,” Ryan said. “When (President Franklin D.) Roosevelt said we’ve got to build the arsenal of democracy, who showed up. It was the Ohioans who showed up and built the arsenal of democracy and saved freedom around the world. That was us. Steel here, steel in Youngstown, glass in Toledo, rubber in Akron…we always showed up.”
