Union wins parking fight with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard: How ruling could help Kittery

KITTERY, Maine — A federal arbitrator has sided with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s biggest union in its fight to ease parking and traffic burdens on Seavey Island, ruling that contractors hired by the yard cannot take civilian employees’ parking spots.

Parking and traffic struggles on the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard not only cause a weekday logjam for those entering and exiting the campus. The back-ups extend well into the Kittery Foreside and the surrounding streets, and shipyard civilian employees for years have parked in the town’s public parking spots rather than finding spaces on base.

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Local 4, asserted in a grievance the yard’s management has violated the collective bargaining agreement with the union and gone against parking conditions outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations. The union raised five issues against the shipyard, including that contractors and other non-federal employees have been allowed to park in civilian worker parking spots and that the yard made parking changes without completing bargaining with IFPTE Local 4.

Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge, chosen from a roster of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service vetted arbitrators, agreed with IFPTE Local 4 in her decision and award issued on Nov. 22. Her ruling calls for the shipyard and the Navy to no longer allow non-federal employees to park in shipyard civilian employee parking spaces.

“The decision is exactly what we were hoping to get out of this arbitration,” IFPTE Local 4 president Eudes James said in a written statement. “We wanted the shipyard senior leadership (team) to know that they are not above the law, and that is what this decision communicates. The feedback we have received from the members is that they are extremely happy and excited to learn that they will no longer have to compete for premium (or any, for that matter) parking spaces at the shipyard with those who do not have a legal right to park in their spaces. This is one more step in improving the overall traffic and parking issues that have plagued this shipyard and the surrounding communities for decades.”

IFPTE Local 4, one of four unions at the shipyard, represents approximately 2,000 shipyard civilian employees. The union filed the grievance in September 2021 in response to the shipyard removing 100 on-site parking spaces during the multi-year dry dock expansion project. The parking spaces were located in the T-1 lower parking lot at the shipyard, per the decision.

In calendar year 2022, there were 7,356 civilian employees at the shipyard, according to the Seacoast Shipyard Association, an advocacy group not directly affiliated with the shipyard. IFPTE Local 4 contended at arbitration the shipyard's current parking plan contains 5,152 parking spaces.

Will shipyard appeal parking ruling?

A spokesperson for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard did not confirm whether it has filed an appeal of the decision with the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority or whether an appeal will happen.

Agencies and unions have within 30 days to file an appeal, called an “exception,” to an arbitrator’s award with the FLRA.

“It would be inappropriate for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to comment on active litigation,” said shipyard spokesperson Danna Eddy in a prepared statement. “Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) leadership values its partnership with each of the labor organizations, as together, we are one team with the single mission of safely overhauling, repairing and modernizing the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarine fleet. Open communications and transparency by all are key to the success of these partnerships.

“There is a wide range of organizations and professionals who are contracted to complete mission essential work,” she added. “For example, construction personnel, trade specialists, technical experts, and delivery drivers. These personnel are only on the shipyard when there is a need for their services. Except for a minimum number of reserved parking spots on the shipyard, all other parking is open parking. This parking is available to contractors who are conducting business on the shipyard. Currently, there is no shipyard-initiated contractor parking off the shipyard proper.”

If the shipyard does appeal Talmadge’s decision, “the bar to winning an appeal is quite high,” James said.

“Essentially, the decision from Arbitrator Talmadge would have to be found contrary to law, rule, or regulation for an appeal to be successful,” he said. ‘Senior leadership at (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) may also choose not to implement the decision or only partially implement it, which would force Local 4 to file an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) for their further violations. Neither of these latter options would be in the best interest of the federal workers, (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) , the mission of the Navy or the local communities, for the traffic and parking issues would continue until the FLRA resolves any challenges to the decision and award.”

The shipyard did not directly specify how many contractors are currently working at the shipyard.

What does ruling mean for parking in Kittery Foreside?

If the shipyard complies with the arbitrator's decision and award, the exact impacts it would have on the shipyard and on Kittery have not yet become clear. But, as leaders from the Joint Land Use Study have shared in the past, implementing alternative parking and transportation options for the shipyard’s workers could prove beneficial.

Kittery Town Manager Kendra Amaral reacted to the decision by calling parking and traffic troubles stemming from the shipyard a “true quality-of-life issue for both the town and the (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) employees.”

“That is why we are committed to implementing the strategies identified in the (Joint Land Use Study) that seek to improve the working, living, and business conditions for the community and (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) employees by reducing single-occupancy vehicle congestion and managing parking and traffic demand associated with the (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) operations,” she said in a statement. “We know from experience, any shift in parking allocation on (the) island will have spill-over effects onto the town. Therefore, we welcome the opportunity to work with the (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) and its employees as they consider strategies to comply with the arbitration decision. We are grateful the (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) recognizes its role as a partner in implementing mutually beneficial solutions.”

James, the union president, noted contracted companies can lease nearby town properties in order for their workers to park near the yard. He added charter buses could be used to shuttle contractors on and off the base.

“Certainly, this option would have a positive impact on the traffic congestion in Kittery and at (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard). We do not believe (Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) would be necessarily responsible for providing any special accommodations, as we are all simply complying with federal law,” he added. “We will assume neither members of Congress nor federal judges provide special parking accommodations for any contractors at their own facilities where none would be available for their own employees.”

A findings of fact section in Talmadge’s decision notes that, beginning in December 2020, the Navy began negotiations with the four shipyard unions over the “impact and implementation” of the dry dock expansion project, which broke ground in September 2021.

While IFPTE was unable to come to an agreement with the Navy, the agency agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the other three shipyard unions in August 2021, according to the decision. The agreement created 151 additional permanent parking spaces and 25 more temporary parking spots at the shipyard, though during arbitration IFPTE Local 4 disputed the contract as unlawful.

At that time, negotiations between IFPTE Local 4 and the Navy were at an impasse.

“The Agency had no legal right to enter into an agreement with other labor unions concerning conditions of employment of our bargaining unit members,” IFPTE argued at arbitration. “The (memorandum of understanding) is between the three other Shipyard labor unions and Management. The Agency unilaterally implemented this (memorandum of understanding) prior to completing bargaining over matters that vitally affects conditions of employment of Local 4 bargaining unit members and, therefore, violates the CBA and statute.”

At arbitration, the shipyard argued that the dry dock expansion project is crucial to national security, several issues raised by IFPTE lacked merit and the grievance was not arbitrable.

Talmadge found the shipyard’s removal of 100 parking spaces and other parking changes on the campus, in addition to allowing contractors to park in employee spaces, violated the terms of its bargaining agreement with IFPTE Local 4.

"The Arbitrator will retain jurisdiction for ninety days should any issues concerning implementation of the award arise," she wrote.

One of the three unions that signed the contract with the shipyard to create new parking was the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2024.

William Webber, president of AFGE Local 2024, estimated the shipyard needs over 400 more parking spaces on Seavey Island.

“We recognize that the construction project at the shipyard, that’s our future. I understand that contractors are taking up a lot of parking, and we're working on ways to curb that, but the decision we made we felt was best,” he said of the other unions’ agreement with the shipyard. “There’s a lot going on over there at the shipyard.”

The arbitration hearing in this matter was held on July 6, 2022, and post-hearing briefs were received by Talmadge on Aug. 18, 2022, according to IFPTE Local 4.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Union wins shipyard parking fight. Ruling impacts Kittery ME traffic.