Bath Iron Works Draftsmen Reject Final Offer, Strike Likely Monday

More than three-quarters of Bath Marine Draftsmen's Association members voted Saturday to reject General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works' "best and final" contract offer, with the union saying a strike will begin at midnight Monday if no deal is reached.

The BMDA, which represents more than 650 draftsmen at the Bath shipyard, said the company's proposal failed to adequately address wages, health insurance premiums, and retirement income security. According to a union member, at least three-fourths of the membership voted to strike down the contract.

BMDA President Trent Vellella did not mince words in a written statement following the vote. "General Dynamics continues to make record profits off our labor and gives away BILLIONS every year through stock buybacks and dividends while many of our members live paycheck to paycheck," Vellella said. "With this Company proposal, General Dynamics is continuing to show that corporate earnings per share are more important than our members' earning per pay period." Vellella also referenced a February 9 visit to the Bath shipyard by Defense Secretary Hegseth, saying the union had hoped the company "took to heart" whatever statements Hegseth made there.

An anonymous union member told News Center Maine that the central sticking point during negotiations was a proposed increase in health care premiums.

The BMDA's rejection came the same day that Machinists Union Local S6, the largest union at BIW with roughly 4,300 workers, announced its own negotiating committee unanimously rejected the same company offer. "As the committee expected, the company never had intentions of coming to an agreement and the proof is in the last, best, and final proposal," Local S6 posted on Facebook. "This has become a take it or leave it situation." The union added: "Unfortunately, we believe this is just the start of a tough fight."

The two unions' rejections followed an all-night bargaining session Friday, when BIW and Local S6's committees negotiated through the day and into the evening, concluding just after 11 p.m. BIW issued its formal last offer Saturday morning. Bath Iron Works said Saturday evening that both sides were continuing to negotiate.

In a company statement, BIW said it "negotiated in good faith toward an offer that we believe is fair and positions us for the future." BIW President Dirk Lesco, in a letter earlier in the week to U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, defended the shipyard's use of subcontractors, writing "We have the right to subcontract today" and noting BIW has spent millions training employees and hiring more than 1,500 workers in the past year. Pingree and Golden had publicly called on BIW to reconsider subcontracting, one of several flash points that sent union workers rallying outside the Bath shipyard earlier last week.

Local S6 said in an earlier statement that company leaders "have chosen not to listen and understand how to build ships from the 253 years of shipbuilding experience that sat across the table." The shipyard builds destroyers for the U.S. Navy, and any work stoppage would raise questions about production timelines on those vessels.

With both unions now on record rejecting the offer and workers preparing to walk off the job at midnight Monday, the prospect of a strike at one of Maine's largest manufacturing employers is closer than it has been in years.