Navy shipyard workers approve a contract deal with Bath Iron Works, ending weeklong strike

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Hundreds of striking employees at one of the U.S. Navy’s biggest shipbuilding contractors voted Saturday to approve a deal with Bath Iron Works, ending a weeklong strike.

Members of the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement that goes into effect immediately, the shipyard said. Approval followed an hourslong union meeting at a local high school.

The Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association is affiliated with the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, which is commonly known as the UAW and is one of the country’s largest unions. The BMDA members at Bath Iron Works work as designers, nondestructive test technicians, technical clerks, laboratory technicians and associate engineers, the union said in a statement.

Bath Iron Works is known for the slogan “Bath built is best built.” The strike began several weeks after a morale-boosting appearance in which U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the need to boost defense manufacturing. It also took place during the U.S. war effort in Iran.

Bath Iron Works is a major shipbuilder for the Navy and was awarded a multiyear contract to build several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in 2023. The Arleigh Burke is a guided missile destroyer that Navy officials have described as the “backbone of the Navy’s surface fleet.” The Navy exercised an option last year to add an additional destroyer to the contract.