Billions in Profits, Cuts for Workers: UAW Demands Fair Contract at Electric Boat

 

"Tick tock."  That was the message the 2,500 MDA-UAW Local 571 members sent directly to the profitable corporation General Dynamics Electric Boat.  Earlier that day, the membership voted on whether to authorize a strike.  The votes were being counted in the back room. 

With over 1,200 members packing the hall, the message from union president Bob Louis and the response from members was clear - members are disgusted by the corporation's refusal to bargain collaboratively.  Despite being flush with over $13.3 billion in profits over the last three years, the company is crying poverty.  Pensions for all?  The company claimed this $2.5 million cost would cripple the business and would not be possible.  Profit sharing?  The company claimed this would dig into the $7.5 billion in shareholder buy-backs that the company has taken from the workers since 2022 and could not happen.  Cost-of-living increases?  No.  Equal leave time for all workers?  No.  The "best and final offer" for the workers is paying 26% more for healthcare and step increases that no current worker would be eligible for for over 5 years.

Before Bob could finish his remarks, the vote tally was rushed onto the stage:  over 65% of members voted to authorize a strike.  At any moment the Union's negotiation committee could call for a work stoppage.  MDA-UAW Local 571's members occupy critical positions at every stage of the ship building process.  The chemists who make sure enclosed areas of ships are safe for other works can now go on strike.  The technicians who set the lasers on the yard that map out where massive steel parts must be lowered and secured into place by other workers can now go on strike.  The list goes on and on.  Bob asked members if management could do their job.  The rancorous response from members made it clear that the answer was a clear hell no.  A strike of these workers would grind production on the dock yards to an absolute standstill. 

When UAW President Shawn Fain took to the podium he recapped the numbers that the negotiations committee had detailed.  General Dynamics is a federal contractor with no competition.  Over the last three years they have made $13.3 billion in profits, gave $7.5 billion to the shareholders, spent $188 million on executive pay, and paid their CEO $67.6 million.  For 125 years, union workers have been building ships in New London and Groton.

But, despite this flood of working class value, the company wants concessions from the union.  They want the union to gladly agree to pay more for healthcare, to have a tiered system that stiffs new-hires from access to leave time, that bucks industry standards for COLA increases and profit sharing.  In short, the company wants the union "too old to work and too young to die."  Fain was adamant:  the UAW does not deal in concession bargaining.

Fain shared that the work being down by Local 571 is building off the incredible work of the Stand Up strike at the Big Three auto manufacturers.  Fain also shared that the fight being waged by the union on the yard floor is being closely watched by other builders, specifically builders in Maine who are fighting for their fair contract, but also by other unions more close to home, like the Wellesley College union of non-tenure-track faculty who's been out on strike in Massachusetts since March 27. 

The work stoppage, he shared, is the most powerful tool in the working class arsenal.  When work stops, the world stops.  As this was being explained, the energy in the hall - full of men and women, young workers and retirees, began to swell, breaking out into colorful language for management and the shareholders.  The company claims it can weather a strike for 6 months with its contingency plans.  The members laughed.

He continued, saying that the company thinks time is on their side.  But when a UAW local votes for a strike, time is out for the company, the clock is ticking.  The clock is ticking on corporate greed.

The marine draftsmen are not alone. Across Connecticut workers are voting to go on strike if the company does not offer wages, healthcare, pensions, and job security.

The 2025 IAM workers at Pratt-Whitney seeking job security voted by 99% to authorize a strike if a new contract isn't approved by May 4 when their current agreement expires. The 1400 CWA workers at Frontier whose contract has expired voted by 95% to authorize a strike if necessary as negotiations continue. There is the possibility SEIU 1199NE nursing home workers may strike in the spring as they negotiate for living wages.

Ongoing strikes include Teamsters at iHealth who remain on strike for a first contract since December 2024, and Ironworkers at Jesscraft in Oxford who have been on strike since April 7 for union recognition.

Wealthy corporations feel empowered by the White House vicious attacks on union rights. The strike line raises working class consciousness for those on strike, and also for the community. These workers are standing up against entitled corporations and objectively they are standing up against the MAGA agenda.