Maine’s Striking Shipbuilders Appear to Be On Their Way to a Big Victory
For the past three months, shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works in Maine have been waging the US’s biggest private sector strike of the year. With a tentative agreement now in place, it’s looking like they’re in for a big win.
Members of the Machinists Local S6 union, workers at Bath Iron Works in Maine, have been on strike since June.
It’s no coincidence that the first strike in twenty years at Bath Iron Works (BIW) began months into the COVID-19 pandemic. While Maine has one of the lowest COVID transmission rates in the country, the spread of the deadly virus helped spark the strike that has largely shut down the shipyard at BIW — one of Maine’s largest employers.
In June, when around 4,300 Machinists Local S6 union members at BIW voted overwhelmingly to strike, many had already soured on management over its handling of the pandemic.
The walkout — which represents the largest private-sector strike of the year — has lasted for nearly seven weeks. But late last week, both sides saw a breakthrough as a tentative agreement was reached that appears to hand the union a victory on its demands.
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