The Trump administration's Christmas gift to BIW came early. On December 22nd, the administration announced the Navy would be axing the DDG(X) program in favor of building "Trump-class" battleships.1 BIW President Chuck Krugh praised this pivot. In a memo to all employees on Wednesday, Krugh assured everyone that: The significant performance improvement BIW has shown over the past three years positions us...

I have a New Years tradition. On January 1st, I make an effort to read one book cover-to-cover. It's rarely a serious book. (Yesterday, I read Brigands & Breadknives.) But I imagine that reading any book in its entirety sets the right tone for the new year. Nowadays, we are confronted with far too many conflicting versions of reality. It's hard to know what's true and what's false.

President Trump thinks the ships we build are ugly.1 This Tuesday, he began work on this pressing issue by demanding a new class of "big, beautiful" battleships named after himself.2 The Navy will develop these new Trump-class battleships instead of continuing the DDG(X) program.3 The DDG(X) program intended to learn from the DDG-1000 Zumwalt's mistakes.4 BIW would have had a role in the design.

A Grade 9 mechanic makes $33.75/hour, but we all know BIW is collecting much more than that from the Navy.1 This intuition has a name in economics. It's called "the surplus value theory," and its logic can help you understand more than just low wages. Key words: surplus value, wages, price, overhead, profit, privatization, mutualization Surplus value is the difference between the price the Navy pays for a ship and the wages BIW actually pays the mechanics who build her.

Senior management has said BIW has no intention of offering code 14s for Christmas Eve. Hundreds of employees are on final written warnings for absenteeism. They will have no choice but to show up on Christmas Eve. The second shift ends at midnight, so second shifters will have to stand at the gate until Christmas arrives. A 2024 MOA gave us a limited shutdown after the union negotiated it away in 2023.

This week, I divided what I'm reading under new headers. They are: Maine, National, International, and History. I used collapsible sub-headers like "immigration" and "the economy" where I shared more than one story from the same "genre" of news. Click to expand the sub-header and read all the headlines. This was all subjective, but I hope loose categories help with accessibility.

I'm done with school for the year, so I'm hoping to get back into writing for fun. I want to try something new in the meantime. I'm a big fan of the Maine Beacon and the IAM's newsletters. I love how they share stories they're reading from other publications, too. I'd like to start doing my own version of this, so I'm going to start doing "Fake News" Fridays.

When the union posted a list of candidates for office last week, it included a lot of unnecessary information. Nominees, who nominated them, and whether or not they accepted. It included a lot of names that will not actually be on the ballot. "It's confusing people," a longtime member complained. So I simplified the list. Take me to the List!

Last week, I wrote about CUPE flight attendants' illegal strike against Air Canada. The 3-day action succeeded in achieving a tentative agreement, but last weekend 99.1% of flight attendants voted to reject it. They are heading to federal mediation.1 Unfortunately, federal mediation is no longer an option for American workers. The IAM tried it at Boeing, and the mediator was DOGEd in the middle of a meeting.

Last month, more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job. They demanded higher wages and pay for all the hours they work.1 The strike only lasted 3 days before management caved.2 "Unpaid work is over," the Air Canada Component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced.3 The class historian Will Jones took to Bluesky to quip, "direct action gets the goods."

President Donald Trump signed an executive order at the end of March taking away most federal workers' right to collective bargaining.1 Earlier this month, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) became the first agency to actually eliminate its unions.2 More than 370,000 employees at the VA were covered by union contracts.3 This included IAM members of the National Federation of Federal Employees…

Trump actually made good on one of his campaign promises, “no taxes on overtime.” Sort of.1 The otherwise Big Ugly Bill does not quite eliminate taxes on overtime, but it does allow some workers a modest deduction for overtime pay. This is a deduction from income taxes. "No taxes on overtime" does not mean Social Security, Medicare, or state taxes.

Since reporting on the issue last Wednesday, another source has reached out to tell me Heritage Days Sponsorships were actually due in May. The Executive Board motioned to sponsor Heritage Days at the Friend level in June.1 It is true they never wrote the check, but it turns out their motion was overdue. This doesn't change the facts or opinions held in my original article.

At its June meeting, Local S6 members voted to spend $350 to sponsor Bath Heritage Days at the "Friend" level.1 Heritage Days is a multiday event around July 4th organized by Main Street Bath. Heritage Days brings thousands of visitors to Bath every year.2 This year's Heritage Days brought an art market, food trucks, beer gardens, a carnival, a car show, waterfront concerts, a firemen's muster, a parade, sword fighting, and of course, fireworks.

Missouri is a MAGA paradise. Missourians overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024. They also elected Republican Mike Kehoe for governor in 2024, and Republicans have enjoyed a supermajority in Missouri's General Assembly since 2012.1 According to polling by Saint Louis University, the people of Missouri are happy with this arrangement.2 Like Maine, Missouri voters can bypass their General Assembly by bringing legislation directly to voters.

The Maine AFL-CIO announced today that its 40-member Executive Board has voted to endorse Troy Jackson in his campaign for Governor. Maine AFL-CIO President Cynthia Phinney said: We support Troy for three reasons. For the past two decades no one has done more to support unions and workers - showing up on picket lines, pushing legislation forward and helping workers organize.

On Tuesday, the IAM announced Maximo Londonio was released from custody after two months of wrongful detention by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).1 From the Deckplates reported that the CBP nabbed Maximo from the airport. Maximo, his wife Crystal, and their 12-year-old were returning from a trip to the Philippines. There, they visited family and celebrated 20 years of marriage.

On July 4th, Donald Trump signed his Big Ugly Bill into law, raising the federal debt limit by $5 trillion.1 The White House claimed: President Trump’s plan doesn’t just grow the economy, it actually reduces the debt burden on future generations — something the D.C. establishment hasn’t done in decades.2 This statement is inconsistent with Trump's record. In reality, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion by 2034.

When this post goes up, I will be in downtown Bath watching fireworks commemorate America's 249th birthday. A lot has changed since our country won its independence all those years ago. Our Founding Fathers realized that no country can survive so long without changing. They wouldn't have recognized the industrialized nation FDR1 inherited in 1935. When he signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) the day after America's 159th birthday, it was the height of the Great Depression.

ME-02 Congressman Jared Golden visited BIW last Friday. He wandered the shipyard meeting mechanics on the deckplates with their union leaders.1 This followed Local S6's near unanimous endorsement of his 2026 reelection bid.2 Unfortunately, I couldn't make the meeting. I would have spoken against the motion to endorse Golden. Outclassed came out just a few days after we endorsed Golden.

Gravelwood Farm Grow Store is a gardening center in Blue Hill specializing in marijuana growing supplies.1 IAM District Lodge 4 has been more active this year organizing Maine's cannabis industry.2 In May, nine Gravelwood workers voted unanimously to ratify their first IAM contract: The new Gravelwood union contract includes cost of living adjustments, a 401k retirement plan, paid holidays and 40 hours of paid leave.

Troy Jackson posted this video of his campaign kickoff speech to his Facebook page.1 IAM member Troy Jackson announced he was exploring a run for governor back in March. After receiving Local S6's endorsement on Saturday, he officially launched his primary campaign Monday, May 19. With permission of the lobstermen working the waterfront, President Alana Schaeffer announced the Metal Trades Council's "bipartisan and unanimous" endorsement of Troy Jackson from a pier overlooking the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nabbed IAM member Maximo Londonio from the airport last Thursday. Londonio, his wife Crystal, and their 12-year-old were returning from a trip to the Philippines. There, they visited family and celebrated 20 years of marriage. He intended to return to work at the Crown Cork and Seal manufacturing company in Lacey, Washington, where he is "a lead union member" of IAM Local 695.

I took April off from writing. I am in grad school, and April was the last month in my spring semester. That meant final papers. I needed to focus on my coursework, not From the Deckplates. I cannot submit blog posts as essays, but this project is related to the program. My program is in "Work and Labor Policy." Part of any public policy program is reading the news.

The IAM urges members to support paid family medical leave (PFML) laws in its official platform.1 “It’s simple,” Troy Jackson tweeted in June 2023. “Working Mainers shouldn't have to choose between a paycheck and being able to take care of their health and family needs.”2 A card carrying member of the IAM, Jackson supported the policy. Though achieving the IAM’s platform was anything but simple.