BIW delivers most of machines for Puritan swab production, optimistic about the rest

Courtesy / General Dynamics Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works machinists have completed 22 of the 30 machines Puritan Medical Products needs to ramp up swab-making for COVID-19 in its new Pittsfield plant.

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By Maureen Milliken

Bath Iron Works has delivered 22 of the 30 machines needed for the Puritan Medical Products expansion in Pittsfield, and officials said Tuesday that the machinists union strike won't affect completion of the remaining eight.

BIW agreed in May to build 30 machines for the expansion, which will allow Puritan, based in Guilford, to more than double its production of medical swabs used for COVID-19 testing. The remaining eight machines being built by BIW are due next month, and the plant, in a building owned by Cianbro Corp., is expected to open July 1.

A Massachusetts firm is building the remaining 10 of the 40 machines needed for Puritan to eventually produce 40 million swabs a month, 22 million of those in Pittsfield.

"We appreciate the hard work of the team that has been assembling these machines on a tight time frame and their ability to complete this first order ahead of schedule is impressive," said BIW spokesman David Hench in an email to the media.

"Recognizing how essential COVID-19 testing is to keeping people safe and fully re-opening the economy, BIW does not anticipate the current work stoppage will affect delivery of the machinery to Puritan so that the health care products company can fulfill its vital mission."

Union officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local S6, representing about 4,300 of BIW’s 6,800 employees, walked out at 12:01 a.m. Monday after a five-year contract had expired and members voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal from the yard’s owner, Virginia-based defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD).

The proposed three-year agreement has been the subject of heated bargaining since May 26, with Local S6 objecting to new language by BIW that would alter job seniority privileges and to use nonunion subcontractors.

Puritan is leasing space in the 144,000-square-foot Pittsfield warehouse in order to up its production of swabs from about 18 million a month to 40 million. The U.S. government asked for the increase under the Defense Production Act, and a $7.5 million federal grant is paying for the expansion. Puritan, which employees about 330, will add up to 150 workers in Pittsfield.

The 101-year-old Guilford medical devices manufacturer is only one of two in the world that makes the specialized swabs needed to test for COVID-19. The other one is in Italy.

The increased production requires specialized machines to provide sterile packaging for each swab. The U.S. Air Force, which is coordinating contracts under the Defense Production Act, identified BIW as uniquely capable to perform the work within the necessary time frame, BIW said last month.