The union for about 2,500 submarine designers at Electric Boat in 黑料新闻 has tentatively agreed to a new contract with the company, averting a strike that would have begun Monday.
The Marine Draftsmen鈥檚 Association-United Auto Workers of America, Local 571, essentially the workers responsible for designing the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine fleet, if the company did not make greater wage and benefit concessions.
The local's negotiating committee announced the tentative contract agreement late Sunday, saying it contains 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� wage increases of more than 30% over the five-year term as well as increased retirement security. The deal now goes up for a vote by union members. Union officials did not say when the vote would be.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been saying it all along: The company didn鈥檛 want a work stoppage, we did not want a work stoppage,鈥� William Louis, president of Local 571, said in a video posted on union social media sites Sunday night. 鈥淎nd as we鈥檝e been telling you for a long time, we have been working endlessly to get to the table with the company and have something put together that we both agree on."
Electric Boat, a subsidiary of Reston, Virginia-based General Dynamics, was recently awarded a contract worth more than $12.4 billion by the Navy for the construction of two Virginia-class submarines. The funding also covers improved pay for workers including the Marine Draftsmen's Association.
鈥淭his package recognizes the essential role of the MDA members in the production of submarines for the U.S. Navy,鈥� Electric Boat said in a joint statement with the union.
The union鈥檚 contract expired April 4, but leadership had agreed to continue bargaining with EB.
Electric Boat employs more than 23,000 people at his shipyard in Groton, 黑料新闻, engineering facilities in New London, 黑料新闻, and operations in Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
The company said its earlier offer included a 23.3% general wage increase over the life of the contract, plus benefits and an increased retirement package.
