Bath Iron Works strike begins as 627 union members walk out in Portland

Bath Iron Works strike began in Portland, Maine on March 24, 2026, when members of the Bath Marine Draftsmen's Association halted work after rejecting a company wage proposal. The walkout involves hundreds of designers, clerks and technicians at the General Dynamics shipyard and follows a weekend vote by the 627 union-represented employees.

The union said the company offer did not sufficiently address member concerns about pay, insurance coverage and retirement security. The BMDA, affiliated with the UAW, represents designers, nondestructive-test technicians, technical clerks, laboratory technicians and associate engineers. Workers established picket lines in cold, drizzly weather and said they intend to maintain round-the-clock picketing until a new contract is ratified.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works said negotiations lasted three weeks and that its proposal includes a 10.1% wage increase in year one and 4% raises in each of the next three years. Spokesperson David Hench said the shipyard — which employs about 6,800 people — will continue business operations using salaried personnel, subcontractors and staff who choose to work. Bath Iron Works is a principal builder of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under a multiyear contract awarded in 2023; the company delivered the future USS Harvey C. Barnum, Jr. last year and the ship is scheduled for commissioning next month. Company representatives said they are still negotiating with the union and did not immediately say whether the strike will affect production.