Furloughs begin this week for 1,300 employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Because of the cuts imposed by sequestration, each week the workers will have to take one day of unpaid leave for the next 11 weeks.
Paul O’Connor is president of Metal Trades Council.
While he is not being furloughed, he says the work done by the employees who are is just as critical to shipyard operations.
“We’re talking about public works, transportation, the supply department, we’re talking about human relations. We’re talking about engineers who write paperwork for the men and women who do their jobs on the submarines. They’re all being impacted.”
In addition to the workers at the shipyard, furloughs for 229 civilian technicians at Pease Air National Guard Base also start this week.
On Tuesday, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter called on Congress to replace sequestration with a different plan, calling the cuts reckless.
