The USS California departs for sea trials after completing a scheduled maintenance period at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. (Courtesy Jim Cleveland)

KITTERY, Maine — Despite being approved for hire, nearly 150 new workers at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard have yet to begin their employment due to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management holding up their processing, according to New Hampshire and Maine U.S. senators.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Angus King, I-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, are urging the Office of Personnel Management to expedite the yard workers’ hiring. The trio sent a letter to the Office of Personnel Management’s acting director Charles Ezell on Monday.

The three senators met last month with Secretary of the Navy John Phelan at the 225-year-old Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, his first visit to any of the four public Navy shipyards.

“During that meeting, we were made aware that nearly 150 personnel have received initial job offers for civilian general schedule positions at the shipyard which have been approved by Secretary Phelan but have not been processed through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM),” Collins, King and Shaheen’s joint letter states. “As a result, individuals who are needed to fill roles critical to our national security cannot be fully onboarded into their positions.”

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