The agreement includes compounding wage growth of 28% over the four-year contract, up from the 23.8% the shipyard initially proposed.
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The Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association, UAW Local 3999, ratified a tentative four-year collective bargaining agreement, March 28, with General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.
The agreement came five days after the union local went on strike over wages and benefits.
The new agreement doesn’t achieve all of the contract campaign goals, but does represent a win for the membership and is a foundation for future negotiations, said Trent Vellella, Local 3999’s president.
“Establishing not only a better contract foundation for the next negotiation but also developing an engaged and motivated membership that now has this experience to bring to bear in any future negotiation or organizing activity,” said Vellella.
The agreement goes into effect immediately.
“Training and implementation of the new elements of the contract begin this week,” BIW said in a separate statement.
The agreement came after weeks of negotiations, including daily communications, BIW noted.
BIW said the agreement represents “historic” wage and benefit options.
The shipyard initially proposed annual wage increases of 10.1%, 4%, 4% and 4%, with total compounding wage growth of 23.8% over the four-year contract.
The ratified contract has annual wage increases of 10.5%, 5%, 5% and 5%. At the end of four years, a Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association employee will be making 28% more than they are now; top-scale designers would earn more than $95,000 annually in base pay by the end of the contract, the shipyard said.
Bath Iron Works said the wage increases are “historic.”
The contract retains flexible work schedules, the ability to work from home and options to purchase additional vacation. Health care benefits retained the employee’s choice of three plans, maintained a company-funded contribution to their health savings account, and the company limited premium growth to 5.75%, which is an average of $2.05 per week, which is below other increases in Maine, the shipyard said.
The 627 association members work as designers, non-destructive test technicians, technical clerks, laboratory technicians and associate engineers at the shipyard.
Bath Iron Works employs 6,700 people, primarily in Bath. The company is a subsidiary of Reston, Va.-based General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD).
BIW is Maine’s fourth-largest private employer, as ranked by average monthly employment in Q1 2025 in the 2026 Mainebiz Book of Lists.
