Roughly 40 welders and shipfitters at Bath Iron Works are slated to be laid off later this month because of an ebb in the workflow for those trades.
BIW spokesman Matt Wickenheiser said the workers and labor union representatives were notified on Friday about the layoffs, which will take effect on Aug. 22. The shipyard, which is owned by General Dynamics, is in the midst of a construction boom, with five Navy destroyers at various stages of construction and work on a sixth destroyer expected to begin later this year.
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Temporary layoffs are relatively common at BIW because of the staggered nature of the lengthy construction period for Navy warships. Wickenheiser said BIW will continue to evaluate the workforce needs and hopes the layoffs are temporary.
“This is strictly the workflow and where we are in the construction process,” he said.
BIW currently employs roughly 5,600 workers, up from 5,200 at the beginning of the year.
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