Rep. Courtney Statement on Finalized MDA-UAW Agreement
NORWICH, CT – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Education & Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after Electric Boat workers a part of the Marine Draftsmen Association (MDA-UAW) overwhelmingly agreed to a new five-year union contract.
“Ratification of an historic five-year contract in a landslide vote required a lot of intense advocacy and dialogue between the roughly 2,500 MDA-UAW Local 571 members and Electric Boat management. The record contract signals that these employees are respected and valued – which will achieve the urgent goal of robust hiring and retention. It also highlights that the workload of the designers will endure in the coming years given the strong demand for submarines by the U.S. Navy and Congress. This “reset” of the wage structure for this unique workforce is exactly what Congress intended last December with special fundingfor the submarine industrial base.
“All principals involved in this challenging, arduous process deserve credit for reaching a record-setting agreement and finding a fair path forward.”
Background
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.
In addition to the new MDA Local 571 contract, the special funding from Congress enabled pay raises for two additional unions representing over 3,700 workers at Electric Boat.