Shipbuilders worried about jobs while Navy celebrates ship
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The USS Zumwalt sat at dock at the naval station in Newport, R.I. on Sept. 9. The 610-foot-long warship has an angular shape to minimize its radar signature and cost more than $4.4 billion. It’s the most expensive destroyer built for the Navy.
BATH, Maine » The futuristic USS Zumwalt has joined the Navy in a high-profile ceremony, and another destroyer has headed out to sea for the first time.
Both are successes for shipbuilder Bath Iron Works in Maine, but many shipbuilders aren’t in the mood for celebrating. The president of the yard’s biggest union says workers worry about future job cuts.
Shipbuilders approved concessions last December in hopes of winning a Coast Guard contract to preserve up to 1,200 jobs, but the shipyard was underbid.
Next year, the shipyard will bid on a 10-ship Navy contract that could provide additional stability for the company, one of Maine’s biggest employers.
The future USS Rafael Peralta went to sea for the first time today, two days after the Zumwalt was commissioned into service in Baltimore.
