Bath Iron Works officials say they are surprised that the shipyard’s largest labor union so utterly rejected the company’s contract offer and that the vote to strike was so lopsided. If a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest defense contractors were capable of such feelings, embarrassed would be the more appropriate word.

After going six years with only a 25-cent-an-hour raise, a concession made in return for job-security provisions, it can be no surprise that the 4,600 members of Local S6 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were outraged that the company came in with an meager package of alternating 2 percent raises and bonuses, and a cross-training demand that would make job security wishful thinking.

The last-minute upgrade to raises in the 3 to 4 percent range was too little, too late, and, given the company’s failure to address the job-security issue and its demand for raise-gobbling increases in worker contributions to the health plan, too insulting. Insulting not just to the workers, but to Maine taxpayers as well. It was just two years ago that the Legislature approved a $60 million, 20-year tax break for BIW. The selling point, that it was an investment to help preserve some of the best jobs in the state, was irresistible.

There was no guaranteed return on that investment, but the Maine people and businesses bearing their full share of the tax burden had reasonable expectations that BIW and its parent corporation, General Dynamics, would make at least a good-faith effort. Instead, the company left a patently unacceptable contract offer on the table until a strike vote was imminent, offered an 11th-hour wage concession that – given General Dynamics’ robust profits and shareholder dividends – should have been on the table from the start.

The tactic of using worker anxiety in place of earnest negotiations is nothing new. It is also no surprise.