An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works.

WASHINGTON: One of the Navy’s biggest shipbuilders could get back to work now that a labor union representing 4,300 workers at Maine’s Bath Iron Works has struck a tentative deal to end a six-week strike.

The walkout slowed work being done on seven new destroyers, pushing ships already six months behind schedule further to the right. 

The announcement that representatives from General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local S6 reached a tentative agreement on a deal was made over the weekend. 

The partial shutdown of the production line came at a heady time for the Pentagon’s industrial and supplier base that is reeling from the effects of the COVID pandemic, as factories and small manufacturers close or operate with skeleton staffs to that encourage social distancing stem the tide of the virus.

A new Pentagon memo estimates that between March 15 and June 15, defense contractors are expected to experience $11 billion in cost increases due to supply chain issues, with the Navy taking the brunt of it. The document, which asks Congress to fund the services for unforeseen expenses, lists $4.7 billion for the Navy, $4.3 billion for the Air Force; $1.1 billion for the Army; $594 million for the Missile Defense Agency; and $190 million for the Special Operations Command.

The memo, obtained by Breaking Defense, was first reported by colleague Tony Bertuca.

The document is short on detail, only mentioning programs that are likely to suffer delays if factories and shipyards continue operating at reduced capacities for several more months. 

Worryingly for the Navy, the Pentagon expressed concern that “at least one of the big seven shipyards may shut down” in the near future, but it’s unclear from the memo which one may be in danger, or why.

On the Air Force side, there are “major program delays” likely on the F-35 program, along with the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, Long Range Standoff Weapon, and KC-46 tanker as slowdowns and shutdowns continue. Likewise, production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile are being slowed due to short staffing.

While Bath has been hit by COVID-related delays, its problems run deeper, and stem from a wave of worker retirements over the past two years that the company hasn’t been able to find workers to replace. Parent company General Dynamics has pumped money into the shipyard in recent years to reverse the tide, spending $13 million to train 1,500 unionized workers at the shipyard in 2019.

“We worked hand-in-hand with the union negotiating committee to ensure that we addressed the concerns of our valued employees,” Dirk Lesko, the president of BIW, said in a statement. “We are hopeful they will return to work soon so we can get on with our important mission of building ships for the U.S. Navy.”

On its website, Local S6 chapter called the negotiations, “emotional, difficult, and frustrating for both parties. Being able to reach a tentative agreement to bring back to our membership that keeps our subcontracting language unchanged, continues to protect seniority, and attain a modest economic package is what we were able to do.”

The walkout also came as the Navy is losing around 50,000 workdays a month at its four public shipyards as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, sparking concerns over delays in repairing and refitting nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. To try and stem schedule slippages at repair yards, the Navy called up 1,600 Reservists earlier this summer for year-long tours to fill in for workers at Navy-operated shipyards in Maine, Virginia, Washington state and Hawaii. The privately-owned Bath Iron Works is not a part of that program, so will have to dig out of the hole it has created with its own workforce.