By KATHY ADAMS By Kathy Adams The Virginian-Pilot With less than a month remaining to negotiate, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and the union that represents about 40 percent of its workers are just starting to discuss issues at the core of their new labor contract: wages, health care and pensions.

By JACOB GEIGER By Jacob Geiger The Virginian-Pilot NEWPORT NEWS Contract negotiations between Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and United Steelworkers of America Local 8888 don't begin until after Labor Day, but the first rhetorical volleys were fired Friday at an afternoon rally outside the shipyard.