BIW union leader seeks investigation of ship contract

BATH – The suspended president of the largest union at Bath Iron Works wants Maine’s congressional delegation to look into the award of a 10-ship contract to an Alabama shipyard.

Mike Keenan of Machinists’ Local S6 wrote a letter asking that Maine’s congressional delegation to “look deeper into this recent award” to ensure there was “a fair competition.”

The Navy on Thursday awarded Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala., an expected $1.6 billion contract to build 10 high-speed military transport ships. Bath Iron Works partnered with Austal to build littoral combat ships but was competing against Austal on the new contract.

Jim DeMartini, spokesman for BIW, said the shipyard expects to be debriefed by the Navy with regard to the Joint High Speed Vessel program and “until then we are not in a position to comment.”

The decision was the second disappointment in two months for Bath Iron Works. In late September, the Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyard edged out BIW in a competition for new Coast Guard cutter contracts worth up to $1.5 billion.

The Bath shipyard has been looking to supplement its Navy destroyer work with smaller projects to ensure a stable work force.

Keenan said there is concern that the Navy’s latest decision “will create more layoffs and there is fear that cost, quality, craftsmanship and the proven ability to build anything designed to float is not taken into consideration when contracts are awarded.”

“I, like the 3,000 other shipbuilders, just want peace of mind that it was a fair competition with bids reflecting what it truly costs to build and deliver the final product [joint high-speed vessel] to the Navy,” he wrote.

Keenan is the elected president of Local S6 but the union is in trusteeship and Keenan and two other union officers remain suspended over allegations of mismanagement. Keenan contends he was targeted for refusing to kowtow to the international union.