Jul 30, 2020 | iMail
As the strike of 4,300 IAM Local S6 members at Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary, enters a sixth week, U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree are asking the U.S. Navy to clarify its position on the expanded use of subcontracting at the shipyard. The work stoppage is the largest active strike in the United States.
Bath Iron Works management has both implicitly and explicitly told IAM negotiators that the Navy has pushed for more subcontracting at the Bath shipyard.
The expired Local S6 contract allowed for subcontracting after a joint review period between the company and union. Local S6 negotiators had proposed shortening the review period, but the company has insisted on a blank check to outsource Maine jobs, resulting in 87 percent of the membership voting to go on strike beginning June 22.
“We have significant concerns regarding the effect of subcontracting on the current BIW workforce, as well as its potential long-term impact on the recruitment and retention of Mainers to the shipbuilding industry,” write Golden and Pingree in a July 27 letter.
Specifically, the lawmakers are asking Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite if the Navy is pushing BIW to subcontract and if the Navy has a policy regarding its involvement in contract negotiations.
IAM Local S6 president Chris Wiers on July 17 sent a letter to the Navy asking for clarification on subcontracting at BIW. The IAM has not received a response from the Navy as of July 28.
“We are so thankful that Reps. Golden and Pingree have been outspoken in standing up for our membership and for protecting good Maine jobs,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Every taxpayer in the state of Maine should be outraged that Bath Iron Works is taking a $45 million tax credit while its own employees are on the street fighting for those dollars to be spent on Maine families.”
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Jul 21, 2020 | iMail
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2020 – As a strike of 4,300 IAM Local S6 members in Bath, Maine enters the fifth week, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is asking the U.S. Navy to shed some light on Bath Iron Works’ claims that the Navy has requested additional subcontracting at the shipyard.
Throughout negotiations with IAM Local S6, Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, has on numerous occasions said that the Navy has endorsed additional subcontracting at Bath Iron Works.
The IAM has countered with proposals to shorten the joint union-company review period for subcontracting and for Local S6 members to work more overtime to meet the Navy’s schedule. BIW management has instead remained insistent that the company has a blank check to subcontract work at the shipyard to out-of-state workers.
“It is unclear to the union whether these statements made by representatives of BIW accurately reflect the Navy’s position regarding the increased use of subcontracting and removal of the union’s valuable input form the outsourcing decision-making process,” wrote IAM Local S6 President Chris Wiers in a July 17 letter to Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite. “We strongly believe the changes in subcontracting language which the company is pushing for will be detrimental to the skilled workforce at BIW and the Navy’s shipbuilding mission.”
The IAM cites numerous implicit and explicit communications between the company and the negotiating committee in which BIW claims the Navy is pushing for additional subcontracting. BIW also claimed the Navy supported more subcontracting at the shipyard in a June 11 letter to U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree.
“As a U.S. Navy veteran, I could not be more proud of our Local S6 membership for the work they do to support our servicemen and women,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “This company should be listening to its employees about how to solve problems at the shipyard, not trying to outsource their jobs during the middle of a pandemic.”
BIW has attempted to break the strike by calling in temporary workers to build U.S. Navy ships and ended health insurance for 4,300 IAM Local S6 families.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America and represents nearly 600,000 active and retired members in the manufacturing, aerospace, defense, airlines, transportation, shipbuilding, woodworking, health care, and other industries. For more information, visit goIAM.org.
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