KITTERY, Maine — Some workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard no longer have a union contract.
An executive order by President Donald Trump ordered union collective bargaining agreements to be terminated across the country. That includes two of the four unions who represent the shipyard employees.
Nate Proper is the president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Jointers Local 3073. As of last Friday, he said the union’s collective bargaining agreement has been terminated.
The union represents about 300 shipyard employees.
Proper said he received a memo last week that their collective bargaining agreement with the shipyard was terminated, effective immediately.
Now, Proper’s union and hundreds of others across the U.S. are trying to figure out next steps.
“When you work for a large entity, it’s easy for individuals to get treated unfairly and get lost in the mix of things. Things fall through the cracks. We’re there to make sure everyone gets a fair shake,” Proper said.
The union negotiates for things like salary, benefits and workplace safety. Proper is concerned the lack of a collective bargaining agreement will leave ununionized workers vulnerable.
“We protect things like conditions when someone has to travel far away for their job, there are rules about how long they can be forced away from their families for,” Proper said.
The Department of Defense says there are concerns that union activity conflicts with national defense.
Proper argues the work that the unions and contracts do actually serves to protect national security.
“The whole premise of this executive order is flawed,” Proper said. “We are not standing in the way of the mission. We are helping the Department of Defense to do it better.”
The Department of Defense did not respond for a request for comment.