Steve Brzezowski 30, of Bath, a painter at Bath Iron Works, said Friday, "I think for a lot of us young guys, we want that chance that the older guys had, to have a job and work 30 years and have a chance at retirement."

Workers walk across the aft deck of an Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works in Bath on Friday. The company has hired about 1,200 workers in the last year or two, according to a union spokesman.

Bath Iron Works employees talk at the South Gate of the Bath facility. Yet to be seen is whether the company will win contracts for more DDG-51 destroyers, seen as the shipyard’s bread and butter, but it will be another year before that bid process wraps up.

Karl Schaumburg, manager of Southgate Family Restaurant in Bath, estimates that Bath Iron Works employees account for 30 to 40 percent of the roughly 200 meals the restaurant serves each day.

A worker walks across a walkway from an Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works in Bath on Friday.

A Bath Iron Works employee leaves the shipyard at the end of first shift on Friday. Some workers say they fear a layoff just before Christmas.

Bath Iron Works is Maine's fourth-largest employer with more than 5,500 employees and a payroll of $360 million as of 2014.

Workers leave the main gate at the end of first shift at Bath Iron Works in Bath on Friday.

Many of the workers at Bath Iron Works live in towns other than Bath, so the effects of possible layoffs would be spread among many communities, the chairwoman of the Bath City Council says.