BATH, Maine – Bath Iron Works and the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement after weeks of negotiations, pushing the dispute to a strike as the union’s prior contract expired at midnight Sunday, March 22. BIW said BMDA planned to begin its strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday, March 23, after the company’s latest offer did not win ratification.
The company said its proposal included annual wage increases of 10.1 percent, 4 percent, 4 percent, and 4 percent over a four-year contract, for total compounded wage growth of 23.8 percent. BIW also said the offer would keep health insurance rates it described as significantly below market, while preserving work-from-home options, flexible workweek arrangements, and vacation-purchase opportunities. The shipbuilder said it would continue negotiating in good faith with the union while also maintaining business operations during the strike.
The labor dispute carries weight well beyond a normal workplace contract fight because Bath Iron Works is one of Maine’s most significant employers and one of the Navy’s most important shipbuilders. BIW says it is a leader in designing and building U.S. Navy ships and also provides maintenance, modernization, and lifecycle support services. The company, part of General Dynamics Marine Systems, describes its shipbuilding and engineering work as a critical part of the nation’s defense industrial base. BIW traces its roots to 1884 and says it has spent more than 140 years building warships in Bath.
The BMDA bargaining unit covers a key slice of that operation. Under the union contract, BIW recognizes the BMDA as the bargaining representative for employees and contract employees in the engineering division. The unit includes workers involved in the original development, revision, and maintenance of design models and plans, along with certain designers in other departments, pipe sketchers, and some technical and environmental laboratory personnel. In short, these are the employees tied closely to the design and technical backbone of the shipyard’s work.
The contract now at the center of the standoff took effect in March 2022 and was set to expire in March 2026. A 2022 report on that agreement said it covered 680 members of the BMDA, underscoring the size of the workforce involved in the dispute. With no full tentative agreement in place and the latest company offer rejected, the conflict now shifts from the bargaining table to the picket line unless the two sides can quickly bridge the remaining gaps.
