At a time when patience is thinner than a potato chip and bad news shows up like an unwelcome guest, the shipyard, the Local 8888 office and the Newport News area got blindsided by a power outage yesterday. Eventually, power was restored, but the disruption added another layer of stress to an already stressful situation.

Now, we can share with you a few important announcements made by the company as part of its response to the first two cases of the coronavirus surfacing in the shipyard.

• Expedited Retirement – NNS is offering employees planning to retire in April and May the option to leave NOW and pay out.

•  Kashable and Purchasing Power – These services for NNS employees should be active by April 1st.

• Liberal Leave – The company has extended COVID-19 liberal leave until the end of April, in light of Gov. Northam’s announcement that Virginia’s schools have been cancelled for the rest of the school year. The liberal leave extension applies to ALL NNS employees, including those working offsite, no matter what their location.