by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Former Guam Shipyard workers have filed a class action lawsuit in the District Court against their former employer. Russ Carlberg, Roel Dacasin, Reynaldo Galvez, Delmario Cortez, and Gary Chang are suing Guam Industrial Services and president Mathew Pothen personally.

The workers claim their October 15, 2013 termination was in violation of federal law because they were not giving proper warning that is outlined in federal law. The lawsuit spells out how the workers were terminated immediately and given one hour to remove all of their belongings despite working at the shipyard for more than 15 years.

Additionally they argue that the while the local workforce was terminated, the shipyard retained its H2 labor force. The terminations came after the shipyard was not awarded the contract for ship repair services for the military.

The shipyard and Pothen have been served and have until February 26 to file a response.