PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Hundreds of designers, clerks and technicians went on strike Monday in Maine at one of the U.S. Navy’s largest shipbuilding contractors.
The Bath Naval Draughtsmen’s Association went on strike over the weekend after voting down wage proposals from General Dynamics’ Bath Steel Works. The union represents 627 workers at the historic shipyard, which has been building naval vessels in Bath for more than a century.
A few weeks ago, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the need to boost defense manufacturing in a morale-boosting appearance. This also comes as the United States intensifies its war efforts against Iran.
The union said in a statement that the shipyard’s proposal did not address members’ concerns about wages, insurance coverage and retirement income security.
“We hope companies will take Secretary Hegseth’s February 9 statement to GD BIW to heart, because our members do,” union president Trent Vellella said in an emailed statement. The statement also said General Dynamics “continues to make record profits from our workforce.”
Bath Steel Works spokesman David Henchy said the shipyard had been negotiating with the union for three weeks but had been unable to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. Hench said the company’s proposal includes “historic annual wage increases” of 10.1% in the first year and 4% in each of the subsequent three years.
The shipyard said on its website that it plans to continue business operations during the strike by using salaried personnel, subcontractors and other employees who choose to work. The shipyard’s total workforce is about 6,800, Hench said.
“The company is continuing to negotiate in good faith with the BMDA to explore opportunities to better align company and union goals,” Hench said in an emailed statement.
The Bath Naval Draftsmen’s Association is affiliated with the United Automotive, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers, commonly known as the UAW, one of the largest labor unions in the United States. BMDA members at Bath Steel Works work as designers, non-destructive testing technicians, technical clerks, laboratory technicians and deputy engineers, the union said in a statement.
Members picketed outside the shipyard on Monday in cold and drizzly weather. Workers say they will continue to picket around the clock until a new contract is approved.
Bath Iron Works, a major shipbuilder for the Navy, was awarded a multi-year contract to build several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in 2023. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is a guided-missile destroyer that Navy officials describe as “the backbone of the Navy’s surface fleet.” The Navy last year exercised its option to add a destroyer to the contract.
Shipyard representatives did not immediately respond to questions about whether the strike would slow production.
