ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the trajectory of United States shipbuilding in the second half of the twentieth century and the impact of the declining US shipbuilding industry on shipyard workers. During this period US industrial workers faced many challenges as urban deindustrialisation led to wage stagnation and accelerated unemployment. However, US shipyard workers who remained employed were also among the highest-paid industrial workers in the country. As US shipbuilding declined, the role of the US government and specifically the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) became increasingly important as private ship production of large merchant ships rapidly diminished by the end of the twentieth century. For the shipyard workers who remained on the job, the increased dependence on naval contracts meant comparatively stable wages, but at the expense of shrinking employment. Moreover, labour legislation in the late twentieth century extended protections and forms of redress to US shipyard and other industrial workers, but such protective labour policies proved inadequate for many who worked in welding and other shipyard trades. Understanding how and why US shipbuilding shifted from supporting both private and naval production to an almost exclusive focus on naval ships will demonstrate the transformation of the US shipyard worker during the late twentieth century.
