October 9, 2018 | Local, Naval

Plan to split warship maintenance between Quebec and Nova Scotia shipyards prompts warnings of job losses

Officials are concerned the Irving yard in Halifax won't be able to handle all the work as it will also be building the new Canadian Surface Combatant warships

The federal government is looking at splitting up maintenance work on the Canadian navy's frigates between an east coast shipyard and one in Quebec, but is facing objections from Halifax workers and Irving Shipbuilding who warn the change will mean lost jobs in Nova Scotia.

There are seven frigates that will need maintenance on the east coast over a five-year period. But military and Department of National Defence officials are concerned the Irving yard in Halifax won't be able to handle all the work as it will also be in the midst of building the new fleet of Canadian Surface Combatant warships.

Each of the aging Halifax-class frigates will require about a year of maintenance work, and in 2020 the navy expects maintenance will be needed on two frigates at the same time. Irving won the original maintenance contract in 2011 but that deal is nearly expired.In order to keep the navy at sea, federal procurement officials are proposing splitting up the work between Irving and its rival, Davie Shipbuilding in Levis, Que.

Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister of materiel at DND, said that while no final decision has been made, discussions are taking place about splitting up the work. “We have to do this maintenance,” he told Postmedia. “We've got a fair bit to do. We have to keep the navy operational.”

Finn said the government's shipbuilding strategy is producing new vessels for both the navy and coast guard, all of which will have to be maintained in the future — a large task. “If we don't have two maintenance and repair facilities for the navy and the coast guard we're going to have a strategic problem,” he said.

Union officials at the Halifax shipyard and, defence-industry sources say, Irving itself have been lobbying the Liberal government to stop the plan to send some work to Davie.

Irving did not offer comment for this story, but Lana Payne, the Atlantic Regional Director for Unifor, the union representing around 900 employees at the Irving yard, said her organization is worried that as many as 300 staff could face layoffs if some of the work is transferred to Davie.

“The Halifax-class has been historically (maintained) at the Halifax yard and the loss of that work will create a major problem for our membership,” she said. “Our understanding is that this is work they can easily do.”

Unifor has brought its concerns to Nova Scotia Liberal MPs and other members of the Liberal government.

The government will spend several hundred million dollars per frigate for each maintenance period.

To date, Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has received more than $3.4-billion in contracts under the government's shipbuilding strategy. That includes contracts for the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and initial work on the surface combatant program. That also includes more than $511 million for repair, refit and maintenance contracts, according to federal government figures.

The surface combatant program will result in an estimated $30 billion in build contracts for Irving, with work continuing into the 2040s.

Sources within the federal government told Postmedia they do not see widespread layoffs arising from any decision to split the work between the yards. The government is also examining a plan to fast-track some aspects of the surface combatant program so the Irving yard is working at high capacity.

Irving raised similar concerns in August after Davie received a contract to refit and upgrade three medium-size icebreakers purchased by the federal government.

At the time, Irving noted that it and Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver had been selected to build Canada's future fleets. “We call upon the Federal Government to confirm to Irving Shipbuilding, our shipbuilders and their families, the Province of Nova Scotia, and all Atlantic Canadians that the National Shipbuilding Strategy remains intact and, therefore, construction of the ships for Canada's Navy and Coast Guard will be done exclusively by Irving Shipbuilding and Vancouver Shipyards,” it pointed out in its statement.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison, a Nova Scotia MP, said at the time that Irving's role in the shipbuilding strategy is secure but it has always been the case that other shipyards can compete for maintenance and refit work.

• Email: dpugliese@postmedia.com

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/plan-to-split-warship-maintenance-between-quebec-and-nova-scotia-shipyards-prompts-warnings-of-job-losses

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