That in itself is enough to substantiate the decision. Was it a good decision? BethShip Sparrows Point Yard still exists. The decision by the yard management to downsize to employment figures low enough to support the shipyard's new intended market (repair, conversion and overhaul) is a decision whose difficulty can only be measured by sleepless nights and cold cups of coffee. The past history of the Sparrows Point shipyard is one of thousands of employees building numerous ships.Īt present, our shipyard is gainfully employing approximately 1,000 workers - workers who would be added to the unemployment figures if the yard had followed the course that other American shipyards had taken and closed its doors.

The key word in the previous sentence is 'surviving.' Numerous shipyards throughout our nation have not survived and are in fact dormant. During those years, I have watched the yard go from one of the most prestigious tanker design and manufacturing facilities to a surviving repair, overhaul and conversion facility.

I have been gainfully employed at the shipyard for almost 23 years (28 years if you consider my part-time employment during my college career). Our lawsuit never said we intended to block the airing of any segment attacking Food Lion. This is what we firmly believe should not be aired as objective TV news reporting. Then, after being hired, we believe she tampered with the work area to concoct staged video tape to discredit Food Lion. 'Prime Time Live' producer Lynne Litt applied for a job as a meat processor using a fictitious name, falsified her employment application, which she affirmed as being true with her signature, and lied about her past work experience. Yet another item in The Sun article which we particularly feel must be corrected is that Food Lion sued Capital Cities/ABC and its producer for trying 'to go undercover to report on working conditions at Food Lion.' This is not true.įood Lion's lawsuit was specifically intended to block 'Prime Time Live' from airing those portions of the segment which used illegally obtained material. In short, working off-the-clock is not tolerated (much less encouraged) at Food Lion.

Food Lion Employment Handbook