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September 14, 2011

BIW cutting 44 salaried workers

By The Mainebiz News Staff

Bath Iron Works is laying off 44 employees in its engineering department, effective Sept. 23.

Engineering and design employees were notified Friday of the layoffs, which are the result of a reduced need for technical work, according to The Forecaster. BIW spokesman Jim DeMartini said that work on DDG 1000, the lead ship in the next-generation Zumwalt class of destroyers, is more than half complete, and after the shipyard builds the three destroyers, it will return to building the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, its mainstay. Upcoming contracts "will increase work in manufacturing as work declines in engineering and pre-construction activities," he told the paper.

In January, BIW cut 130 designers and engineers from the DDG 1000 destroyer program, then laid off another 250 designers in June. The company has also laid off more than 200 tradespeople from the DDG 51 program. The shipyard currently has about 5,400 employees.

In related news, a former BIW employee pleaded guilty last week to stealing more than 3,600 pounds of scrap copper cable over an eight-month period, The Times Record reported. According to a plea agreement, Dean Daigle will be sentenced to three years in prison with all but six months suspended, two years of probation and restitution of $9,151.

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