BIW union official positive in wake of grim report

BATH – The president of the largest union at Bath Iron Works said there may be some positives in an otherwise grim report from the American Shipbuilding Association warning about the future of shipbuilding.

The “Shipbuilding Industrial Base Survey and Report,” released in August, focuses on a production gap from 2005 to 2007 in the Defense Department’s ship procurement plan.

The shipbuilding association’s survey included manufacturers – shipyards and the contractors that support them – in 18 states, including Maine. The report found that all respondents anticipate a loss or reduction in revenue as a result of those “gap years.”

Mike Keenan, president of Local S6, the largest labor union at the Bath shipyard, said most shipbuilders are aware those years will be difficult, but he stated the company’s goal is to survive those years without any layoffs.

The number of people employed by Bath Iron Works may take a dip, but Keenan hopes that will happen when people retire or find other jobs.

“Everyone is certainly working to help us make sure these gaps are filled,” Keenan said.

The report, which concludes the nation’s six major shipbuilders will be forced to cut 70,000 employees by the end of 2009, also underscores a shortage of warships in service.

Keenan said Bath Iron Works informed the union last Tuesday that 25 pipe fitters were to be laid off. And last Thursday, the company and union had worked out a way to offer all the pipe fitters jobs in other areas of the shipyard.

This chain of events is evidence of the amiable and constructive relationship that exists between the union and the shipyard’s administration, Keenan said.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairwoman of the Seapower Subcommittee, said the Pentagon’s pending 2006 budget might contain good news for the shipbuilding industry.

“In recent years, the shipbuilding budgets have gained momentum, and we have started to turn the corner on re-capitalizing the fleet,” Collins said in a written statement. “The Department of Defense, and the Navy in particular, should not squander the foundation that has been established in recent budgets.”