BIW memo sparks cross-training alarm for Machinists union

BATH – The Machinists union continues to be at odds with Bath Iron Works over cross-training, a major sticking point in the 55-day strike at the Navy shipbuilder.

The new 42-month contract, ratified in October, eliminates provisions requiring workers to perform duties outside their regular job classifications. It also removes pay incentives designed to encourage workers to learn new skills.

The union feared that training workers in different areas would lead to layoffs.

But Rock Grenier, president of Local S6 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the union is prepared to file dozens of grievances for workers who say they have been forced to perform tasks in violation of the contract.

“We didn’t go on strike for two months to get this shoved at us,” Grenier said.

Last week, about 200 workers protested outside BIW’s corporate offices. Grenier said workers were angry about a memo that Vice President Kevin Gildart sent to the company’s manufacturing management team that said production workers could be required to install, take down, operate or shut down air ventilation systems in the course of their work.

The Dec. 6 memo also said managers could require production workers to remove or reinstall materials that belong to other trades if those materials get in their way.

“The company is working in accordance with the contract,” said Susan Pierter, BIW’s spokeswoman. “If there is disagreement on the way we are implementing the contract, then there is a grievance procedure to follow.”

But Grenier maintains that Gildart’s memo is an attempt to cross-train workers.

Pam Barr, a union shop steward, said she filed a grievance when her supervisor tried to get her to hook up ventilation so she could do her job, painting. She was suspended for five days last month for “insubordination” after she refused.

Companies and unions may use a new contract to “settle the score” after labor disputes, according to Michael Hillard, an associate professor of economics at the University of Southern Maine. A company can cut its work force, and a union can file grievances.

“In the wake of a strike there are bound to be hard feelings on both sides. Those feelings don’t go away in any short period of time,” Hillard said.