Charges filed by BIW over Machinists’ union threats to fine ‘scabs.’
A three-week strike by the International Association of Machinists (IAM) against General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works (BIW’s) is heating up after the union threatened members who attempt to resign their membership to corss the union’s picket lines with heavy monetary fines.
On June 22, after rejecting BIW’s last and final offer, the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local S6, representing about 4,300 of BIW’s 6,800 employees, called its members on strike.
Last week, the union stated on its website that it would “fine every single member who crossed the picket line for the total amount of wages they individually earned from BIW until the strike is over.”
Attention All Scabs- 7/9/20
Jul 9, 2020 | 2020 Negotiations, LL S6 Leadership Alerts
Brothers and Sisters, BIW has mailed out propaganda, had supervisors try to sell this contract based on economics, avoided the real issues, and irresponsibly provided information on how to resign from the Union so you can cross the picket line and work as a scab. BIW has failed to mention that once you resign from the Union you will not be able to vote on anything, run for any Union position/committee, and are ineligible to receive any union benefits; such as A&S, Dental, Vision, etc. Once we return to work, anyone who took the advice from management and resigned from the Union will still be required to pay full union dues. The Union will fine every single member who crossed the picket line for the total amount of wages they individually earned from BIW until the strike is over. BIW has once again steered you wrong. Similarly, to how they misrepresented their last, best, and final in the media.
No man has a right to scab so long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in, or a rope long enough to hang his body with.
In Solidarity, Local Lodge S6 Leadership
[Emphasis added.]
In response to the union’s threats to its members, BIW filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), according to a company press release.
“We are extremely disappointed that union leaders would make false and threatening statements to the very employees they are supposed to represent,” said BIW President Dirk Lesko. “We take these issues very seriously and will continue to ensure our employees’ rights are protected.”
Under the National Labor Relations Act, employees who choose to resume working have the legal right to do so without being harassed or threatened with violence, the company noted.
Those who resign their union membership prior to crossing the picket line cannot be fined or required to pay full union dues, either during or after the strike.
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