Jeremy Lau, an aircraft mechanic with L-3 Vortex on NAS Pensacola and president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 2777, just stopped by my office. He and 300 of his fellow union members were sent home today and told the base wasn’t sure when they can report back to work.
Lau said that civil workers at NAS Pensacola were told to log in four hours and go home until further notice. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Worker has another 200 members working at Whiting Field and Lau expects that they, too, will be laid off.
“We’re a military town. These lay-offs probably will have a million dollar impact on this community for every week they last,” said Lau.