The United Auto Workers union in General Dynamics’ submarine division ratified a new contract Wednesday, delivering a massive salary bump for employees.
The UAW announced that 85% of the 2,400 union-represented marine drafters at the company’s Electric Boat division voted to OK the pact. The five-year agreement nets union workers a 30% wage increase.
“We did negotiations differently this time,” Bill Louis, president of Local 571, said in a statement. “Our members worked hard and got involved in our campaign. After more than a decade of ’living to fight another day,’ we finally stood up and won the respect that all workers deserve.”
According to the UAW, members will see a cumulative $115,000 per-member increase in total compensation during the agreement. Unionized employees authorized a strike last month, calling for General Dynamics to increase wages to keep pace with inflation.
“They showed that you don’t need to play by management’s rules. When union members get involved in the bargaining process, we win contracts that raise the standard for the entire working class,” UAW Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla said in a statement.
General Dynamics’ Electric Boat is responsible for building nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy and has served as a significant target of investment for the company the past few years. The division could also see a surge in funding due to President Trump’s “Make Shipbuilding Great Again” executive order.
The contract fight at General Dynamics is just one of the labor actions launched by the UAW this year. In early May, the union organized a strike at several Lockheed Martin facilities following the defense contractor’s reporting of $1.7 billion in profits.
