Members of Local S6 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) returned your work August 23 following a 10-week strike for a new contract.
The three-year pact, approved by an 87percent vote, secured strong job protections against expanded outsourcing and preserved seniority rights. The union and the Maine shipbuilder reached a tentative agreement on August 7 with the assistance of a federal mediator.
“IAM Local S6 has shown the world that together working people can stand up and win for themselves, their families and their communities,” stated IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “This fight for dignity, justice and good Maine jobs will go down in the history books of the Machinists Union and all of organized labor.”
“I can only salute the brothers and sisters who not only stood up for themselves and their families, but for the entire Labor Movement,” added IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President James Conigliaro, who also serves as the union’s MTD Executive Board Member. “IAM Local S6 members didn’t back down.”
The 43,000 members of Local S6 build U.S. Navy destroyers. Bath Iron Works is a subsidiary of General Dynamics.