United Space Alliance Announces Layoffs
July 13, 2010
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NASA contractor, United Space Alliance (USA), says it will layoff approximately 15 percent of its workforce on October 1, 2010.
USA says it expects to layoff 800 to 1,000 workers at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, 300 to 400 workers near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX and about 10 in Huntsville, AL. The terminations come as the company prepares for an eventual end to the shuttle program in 2011.
The exact number of workers will depend on Congress’ final budget for NASA, says IAM District 166 DBR Johnny Walker. “The IAM has been leading the fight to preserve our nation’s space industry since President Obama first announced plans for cancelling the shuttle and hitching rides to space with Russia,” says Walker. “We’ll continue to fight for the future of space, our members, their jobs and communities.”
Also leading the fight, a score of legendary space pioneers including former astronaut and retired U.S. Senator John Glenn; Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon; and Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon.
“These are critical days for the future of manned space flight,” said Glenn in a statement.
“Starting at the end of this year, and probably for the next five to ten years, the launches of U.S. astronauts into space will be viewed in classrooms and homes in America only through the courtesy of Russian TV. For the ‘world’s greatest spacefaring nation,’ that is hard to accept. I do not believe it has to be this way.”
To tell Congress to preserve our space programs, click here.
