BATH – A Bath Iron Works plan to replace 27 union workers with nonunion help from out of state has drawn fierce opposition from shipyard labor leaders.
Workers fear it may only be the beginning. About 900 rallied outside the shipyard Thursday, and a larger gathering has been scheduled for next week. And if the new workers arrive on July 18, as scheduled, union members plan to picket outside.
The term “scab” is already being used.
“Morally and ethically, this is absurd,” said Mike Keenan, president of the shipyard’s largest union, the 4,000-member Local S/6. “These are the folks who have bled and sweated for this company.”
The plan calls for the layoff of 27 Local S/6 members who’ve been doing custodial work around the yard, particularly cleaning offices. In their place, the shipyard plans to hire UNICCO Service Co., a Massachusetts-based company whose clients include Fairchild Semiconductor, General Electric and Lockheed-Martin.
The decision is about saving money, Bath Iron Works leaders have said.
Representatives of the shipyard declined to answer questions about the plan Thursday. However, a company spokesman forwarded to the Sun Journal excerpts of the contract with Local S/6 and a bulletin distributed to workers on Wednesday, signed by BIW President Dugan Shipway.
In his note to workers, Shipway cited concerns about the Navy’s ship-buying policies and worries that the Navy may yet go to a winner-take-all competition for the construction of future destroyers. Such a move could, if implemented, cause Bath Iron Works to shut down.
“We must continue to take aggressive actions to strengthen our competitive position,” Shipway wrote.
Keenan, who has met with Shipway, said he is baffled by such a stance. According to Keenan, this plan violates the union’s contract, a four-year agreement signed last May.
In his message, Shipway wrote, “About three weeks ago, I sent a proposal to the Local 6 leadership to have the cleaning of office spaces shifted to an outside contractor. Since that time, information has been exchanged between the union leadership and my staff in accordance with the process outlined under the labor contract. I have met with the union leaders and I appreciate how difficult this issue is.”
Gov. John Baldacci has spoken to both sides, encouraging them to agree, a spokeswoman for the governor said Thursday.
For Keenan, the bigger worry is whether there will be more outsourcing.
“I am sure that there will be,” he said.
Shipway wouldn’t make such a controversial move for such a small savings, Keenan said. There must be more.
“He’s infuriated the workers,” Keenan said. “If you want to trim the fat, trim it somewhere else.”
Yet, Keenan hopes the controversy will end quietly. “An arbitrator would side with us,” he said.
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