What industry is that?
Rail industry. Apparently, some ships use the same diesel engines, generators, motors, and switchgear as diesel-electric locomotives.
The knowledge base translates well to this particular civilian industry.
One thing I have noticed is that the leftism is inversely proportional to age. The people who had 20+ years in the military, down to about 8 years are much more conservative than the the ones who only were in for 6 years or less.
Also a factor is where these people were originally from.