BATH – Following a weeklong contract extension, Bath Iron Works and the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association have reached an agreement on a new, multi-year contract that will continue through March 2022.

“The General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and BMDA agreement was ratified by employees on Saturday,” said BIW Senior Communications Specialist David Hench. “The company is pleased to have an agreement.”

The union and the company reached a tentative agreement Friday night, with union membership approving it at a meeting Saturday morning.

A sticking point in the negotiations was a flexible workweek provision. The previous contract allowed union members to shift from a traditional five day workweek with eight hour days to a four day workweek with ten hour days 15 weeks out of the year.  With some adjustments on the margins, the new contract will allow workers to go to a four day workweek eight weeks out of the year.

“While we recognize that this [agreement] is not perfect, and it’s not what any of us wanted when we entered into these negotiations, we believe it represents a significant improvement from what we were facing last week,” said the union’s negotiating committee in a statement Friday. “It has good economics and preserves a level of workplace flexibility that would otherwise have been eliminated.”

The new flexible workweek provision will go into effect in April.