ICYMI: Rep. Courtney Pens New Piece

WASHINGTON, D.C. ­– Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee and a senior Member of the House Education & Workforce Committee, penned a new opinion piece in CT Mirror following ratification of the record MDA-UAW labor contract at Electric Boat’s Groton shipyard. Simultaneous with this contract, the Electric Boat Metal Trades Council and Carpenters Union 2023 labor contracts were reopened, and over 2,700 members received a comparable boost in hourly rates.

“The successful agreement reached last month is a clear example of how collective bargaining can effectively address one of the most pressing challenges in our national economy: rebuilding America’s manufacturing industrial base. Realigning wage rates is a significant step forward to achieve our goal,” wrote Courtney.

The contract came after months of intense negotiations. The turning point, Rep. Courtney writes, came on April 30 when special funding approved by Congress was released to Electric Boat which surged management’s offer.

Rep. Courtney played a leading role in securing the special funding. Rep. Courtney secured the authority in the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act for the Secretary of the Navy to increase wages for non-executive shipyard workers. Congress passed this bipartisan measure in December 2024, and later that month, approved funding through the Continuing Resolution to allow the Navy to underwrite the cost of these wage increases for shipbuilders. In April, Rep. Courtney called on the Secretary of the Navy to exercise the new authorities and funding to deliver the wage increases Congress and the Navy agree are urgently required. On April 30, the Navy acted on its new authority and awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $12.4 for the construction of two Virginia class boats, productivity improvements at shipyards, and workforce support at nuclear-powered vessel programs. 

Read the piece here or below. 

As the dust settles following the hard-fought, months-long negotiations between Electric Boat and the Marine Draftsmen Association Local 571, both sides deserve tremendous credit for reaching a record-setting agreement and finding a fair path forward for the next five years.

Reaching the “sweet spot” of this historic contract for the members of MDA Local 571 required a lot of intense advocacy and dialogue between management and labor, as well as the roughly 2,500 members of this unique workforce that designs the most advanced, complex nuclear-powered submarines in the world. 

A contract that boosts general wages by more than 30% over the course of the contract, while retaining superior health and retirement benefits, sends a strong signal that this workforce is respected and valued. The five-year term of the contract also highlights the workload of the designers will be enduring in the coming years, given the strong demand for submarines by the U.S. Navy and Congress.

A notable turning point in the contract negotiations came on April 30, just weeks before the agreement was finalized. That day, new funding approved by Congress in December 2024 was released to Electric Boat, specifically designated for wage improvement for the submarine industrial workforce.

The impact of this funding surge transformed management’s offer of a 21.4% raise to the final 30% general wage increase agreement (over the course of the contract). The hourly wage improvement offer saw a significant boost, with a much larger increase in the first year and steady raises in the years that follow —well above what was initially proposed. 

Simultaneous with this upgrade, the Electric Boat Metal Trades Council and Carpenters Union 2023 labor contracts were reopened, and the machinists, boilermakers, electricians, and painters also received a comparable boost in hourly rates. It is unprecedented for Congress to single out one shipbuilding production enterprise in the entire Department of Defense for such a boost in salary. There was no “wage improvement” funding for aviation, munitions, space technology, or missiles in the December spending bill or any other spending bill in recent memory.

This extraordinary Congressional anomaly is a recognition that the existing 2025 labor wage rates for shipbuilding trades were failing to match the hiring and retention demand for the Navy’s growing fleet size —particularly the submarine fleet.

Although Electric Boat has brought on record levels of new hires over the last three years and maintained a significantly higher retention rate compared to other shipyards, the “churning” of new workers hindered faster production goals for both Virginia and Columbia class submarines. It did not take much analysis by Congress, the Navy, or industry to recognize that wages —especially for entry-level trades— were no longer competitive with those in retail, hospitality, and transportation, to name a few. Compared to the Cold War era from the 1970s to 1990s —when Electric Boat’s workforce was at its peak—the pay gap between shipbuilding trades was significantly wider than other sectors, which helped drive greater workforce stability and higher employment levels in the shipyard back then.

The successful agreement reached last month is a clear example of how collective bargaining can effectively address one of the most pressing challenges in our national economy: rebuilding America’s manufacturing industrial base. Realigning wage rates is a significant step forward to achieve our goal.

More work needs to be done, including sustaining job training programs like the Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative and Career and Technical Education. These programs should operate not only in technical high schools, but also in traditional comprehensive high schools, where their presence is steadily expanding across eastern Connecticut with each new school year. Such efforts benefit not just Electric Boat, but other supply chain and non-defense manufacturers. 

That is how to build a strong Navy and how to build a strong middle-class economy that’s here to stay.

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