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General Mar 24, 2026 at 3:22 AM

Hundreds go on strike at major Navy shipbuilder in Maine over wages and benefits

Posted by WilliamInBlack

https://apnews.com/article/navy-shipbuilding-strike-maine-c7940a6be99aaa8abb2e32ef03ac01d9
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McCoy818 Mar 24, 2026 +205
nothing says national security priority like underpaying the people who build your warships
205
Ohuigin Mar 24, 2026 +48
Well yea… But think of all the fresh lobster and rib eyes you could eat…
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fallenouroboros Mar 24, 2026 +7
Sir i am on a granola bar, ramen diet until i can afford a used car. Your comment sounds like magic to me
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wh4tth3huh Mar 24, 2026 +3
Then don't look at the Pentagon's recent spending.
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thevoidhearsyou Mar 24, 2026 +41
The issue isn't government funding. The issue is the private company that owns the shipyard not paying the workers right because they want to keep all the government money for their bank accounts.
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Mend1cant Mar 24, 2026 +14
Yup. HII and their sub company Newport News Shipbuilders down in Virginia was only skilled welders 25 an hour last I interacted with them. They were 6 years into an 18 month refueling of one of the navy’s training reactors, and HII had the audacity to do stock buybacks. I say the union should strike until the bosses have to sell off the private jets.
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GreedyNovel Mar 26, 2026 +1
First lesson of working for a living is that the pay you "deserve" is whatever the next best offer happens to be. If you can go somewhere else for better pay, there's nothing stopping you.
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thevoidhearsyou Mar 27, 2026 +2
If you are in a market that has plentiful opportunities yes. However ship building isn't one of them.
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muthermcreedeux Mar 24, 2026 +6
I'm all for unions. I also live in Bath. I just [read an article ](https://www.wmtw.com/article/reason-for-biw-strike/70823949) where the union president basically said that even though BIW was offering the draftsman Union the highest raises ever and the lowest rates on medical insurance they could get, he went on to quote Pete Hegseth at his recent visit as a reason for not signing the contract. It makes me question why they are doing this.
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[deleted] Mar 24, 2026
[removed]
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muthermcreedeux Mar 24, 2026 +4
I agree striking is the right choice here, but I also don't think quoting Hegseth as a big reason for striking is helping. Maine is historically low as far as income. It's a real struggle to live here. I agree with demanding increases. I also know that BIW pays really well in comparison to most of Maine's industries which is why over 6,500 Mainers work there. It's a conundrum and I don't think invoking someone as stupid as Hegseth isn't going to help anyone's argument. I also know that a number of BIW staff voted for Trump (they still have huge signs posted all over their vehicles parked up and down the roads), an anti-union president. It's all so very confusing.
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Eljimb0 Mar 24, 2026 +6
I won't argue that my fellow union members voting for someone who thinks that the best way to deal with union workers striking is to fire them all. I don't understand it either. Let's stop and think for a second, though. The practical mouthpiece of the defense industry for the person they voted for came out and said that corporations need to pay them more. The person who leads the department of defense and has major input on defense spending, which is where these people get their jobs, thinks there needs to be less CEO pay and fewer stock buy backs. Why would they not leverage that point of view to negotiate with a company that gets its money from government contracts? I hate the Fake News host as much as any reasonable human, but labor desperately needs to push any angle it can if it expects to get back its fair share of gdp again. "The people that pay YOU say you should be paying US better" is a valid point, no?
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NapoleonBlownapart9 Mar 24, 2026 +62
Bath Ironworks get paid! I remember watching them build the USS Zumwalt from afar.
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fullmoon63 Mar 24, 2026 +45
Defense giant raking in contracts while the people actually building the ships have to strike for decent pay and benefits kinda tells you everything you need to know about this economy.
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[deleted] Mar 24, 2026 +65
[deleted]
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navysealassulter Mar 25, 2026 +1
UAW employees are not paid the same as McDonald’s employees. Like not even close. 
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oneseason2000 Mar 24, 2026 +27
Mission accomplished ... "The strike arrived several weeks after a morale-boosting appearance in which U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the need to boost defense manufacturing." /s
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Infamous-Sky-1874 Mar 24, 2026 +42
I totally see Kegseth responding to this rationally and not reenacting the start of the Russian Revolution.
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One_Olive_8933 Mar 24, 2026 +8
Susan Collin’s seat is already under threat, and the only republican voter response I’ve heard for voting for Collin’s is that she’ll continue to get contracts for that Bath Ironworks - I’m not saying wether on not that’s true, I just heard that’s her strongest card to play to keep her seat. I don’t think Hegseth would stick his nose in this because it would definitely mean losing the seat, and if the midterms move forward, in a free and fair way, the R’s need to hold everything they can.
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NecessarySudden Mar 24, 2026 +27
Navy shipbuilders aro not get paid in a country with both largest navy and defense budget in the world.
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One_Olive_8933 Mar 24, 2026 +11
Well, how would the defense contractors get their huge C-level bonuses, shareholder dividends, and lobby money for more defense contracts if they paid their workers a fair wage?
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justbunnies Mar 24, 2026 +3
That pedo is going to be mad that yet another thing is going wrong with his war dreams.
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Hortjoob Mar 24, 2026 +5
I hope they get better wages. Even if they are building war machines. Might as well be afforded to eat and get my subscriptions right?
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