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Northrop Grumman Corp. officials say realigning its two shipbuilding divisions will not hurt bases in Avondale or Pascagoula, Miss., but the consolidation could eventually mean fewer jobs for New Orleans shipbuilders.
Northrop Grumman's two former shipbuilding sectors -- Newport News in Newport News, Va., and Ship Systems, which includes yards in Avondale, Pascagoula, Miss., and Gulfport, Miss. -- today become one division known as Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.
Spokesman Dan McClain said realigning the shipbuilding divisions creates greater cost efficiencies and "provides greater flexibility in deploying shipbuilding assets."
But Eric Smith, a clinical professor of finance and associate director of the Entergy-Tulane Energy Institute, said the consolidation could drain the already thinning New Orleans-area shipbuilding work force in the future.
"I don't see how you can make the argument this is good for New Orleans," Smith said.
When a company consolidates to create cost efficiencies, said Smith, a former employee of New Orleans-based McDermott International Inc. who worked on Navy shipbuilding contracts, it means consolidating management and cutting white-collar jobs.
Blue-collar laborers such as welders and fitters...