{"id":39261,"date":"2018-01-22T14:31:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T14:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/22\/shipyard-boss-seeks-employee-relations-reset-as-navy-demand-increases\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:05:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:05:25","slug":"shipyard-boss-seeks-employee-relations-reset-as-navy-demand-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2018\/01\/22\/shipyard-boss-seeks-employee-relations-reset-as-navy-demand-increases\/","title":{"rendered":"Shipyard boss seeks employee relations reset as Navy demand increases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BATH, Maine \u2014 After a stormy chapter in labor relations, the leader of Bath Iron Works aims to collaborate more with workers as the shipbuilder completes production of a stealthy class of destroyers and competes for an entirely new class of smaller warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dirk Lesko said after wrapping up his first year as president that he maintains an \u201cabiding faith\u201d in the workforce to help solve problems to keep the General Dynamics subsidiary competitive as the president\u2019s goal of expanding the U.S. Navy fleet\u2019s size is met with difficult <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/surface-navy-association\/2018\/01\/16\/changes-to-lcs-mission-equipment-coming-in-fy19-budget\/\" data-original-title=\"\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" aria-describedby=\"popover364133\" style=\"\">fiscal realities<\/a> in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNone of us is as smart as all of us. When we\u2019re all pulling together and working on the same problem, the solutions are always better,\u201d he told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But changes don\u2019t come easily and wary workers must be convinced through actions, said Mike Keenan, president of Machinists Union Local S6, the shipyard\u2019s largest union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shipyard is emerging from a painful reset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lesko\u2019s predecessor, Fred Harris, angered many of the shipyard\u2019s 5,700 workers by removing a blue \u201cBIW\u201d flag, a shipyard symbol for years, and insulted them by declining to use the oft-repeated phrase, \u201cBath-built is best built.\u201d He sought to have lower-wage contractors do more work on ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Harris was an outsider who won deep concessions from unionized workers to compete for a lucrative Coast Guard contract that was ultimately won by a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Workers remain angry and frustrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of people took a lot on the chin to make us more competitive. If we\u2019re going to succeed, then their voices need to be heard,\u201d Keenan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outgoing president\u2019s leadership style may have been a \u201cshock to the system\u201d but the shipyard needed to address its reputation for being costly, said Jay Korman, a Navy analyst with Avascent Group in Washington. During tight budget times, cost is as important as the quality on which workers have buttressed their reputation, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you can address the cost issue, if that makes you competitive of a new class of ships, then I think it\u2019s for the betterment of the yard in the long run,\u201d Korman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cost is ever important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy wants to increase the fleet\u2019s size \u2014 something President Donald Trump supports \u2014 but the budget is limited and construction is spread out among shipyards in other states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Bath, there are other challenges than cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shipyard has added 2,000 workers over the last three and a half years to replace retiring workers, and will be adding hundreds more, officials said. Many of those workers were hired to work on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/surface-navy-association\/2018\/01\/11\/navy-has-no-plan-to-introduce-new-ammo-for-ddg-1000\/\" data-original-title=\"\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" aria-describedby=\"popover831125\" style=\"\">futuristic Zumwalt<\/a> class of destroyers, the largest and most technologically advanced destroyers built for the U.S. Navy. Now, they\u2019re going to shift to an upgraded class of Arleigh Burke destroyers featuring a new radar system that makes the ships capable of providing ballistic missile defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company is also asking lawmakers to extend state tax breaks. Executives want to extend a tax credit for up to $3.5 million a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For now, the shipyard has contracts to carry the workers through 2022, and the company is aggressively pursuing a contract for a new class of frigates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s plenty for a new leader to juggle. But he\u2019s confident about the future because workers and shipyard managers are on the same page with a \u201cshared reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m absolutely committed to working with every part of the workforce,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people are what make this place incredible. And if you ask them to do something, and they understand what you want, even if it\u2019s impossible, they\u2019ll figure out how to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The leader of Bath Iron Works aims to collaborate more with workers as the shipbuilder competes for an entirely new class of smaller warships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,12,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2490],"class_list":["post-39261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"I5UQN5H4N5HA7ED55CMTISQGYI","arc_canonical_url":"\/industry\/2018\/01\/22\/shipyard-boss-seeks-employee-relations-reset-as-navy-demand-increases\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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