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The bosses at a Maine shipyard are offering overtime to workers there if they attend a speech by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, according to workers at the facility.
Hegseth is reportedly set to tour Bath Iron Works on Monday and give a speech on the recently announced “Trump” class battleship, according to the Bangor Daily News.
When the bosses reached out to workers for volunteers to attend the speech, however, few hands went up, according to one worker, who spoke with The Intercept on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The speech is slated for Monday afternoon, shortly before a shift change, which means that workers who attend would need to stay past their normal work hours — and anyone who shows up would be required to stay until the event is over.
“They issued a polling sheet this morning to see who would attend and, at least from my crew, there were no takers,” said the worker, “and not even a mention of overtime.”
Hegseth has made his speeches a high priority during his tenure as secretary of the War Department, including one address in which he railed against “fat” generals. He later ordered the entire U.S. military to watch the speech.
Devin Ragnar, a spokesperson for International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 6, which represents workers at the yard, confirmed that anyone attending the speech past shift change would receive overtime pay, but declined to discuss in detail how the arrangement was reached.
After the initial lack of enthusiasm on Friday morning, a later survey went out around noon that explicitly said workers would receive overtime if they stayed past the end of their shift, according to the worker.
“This company doesn’t pay out for anything they don’t explicitly have to.”
“I don’t know if that was always going to be the case — a change to bribe folks to get a larger attendance — or if union leadership grieved it by saying they can’t mandate us stay past our shift and not pay us,” said the worker, whose hunch was that management was looking to entice people to attend. “This company doesn’t pay out for anything they don’t explicitly have to.”
Another worker who spoke with The Intercept expressed dread about the impending headache of Hegseth’s visit, echoing how unusual the offer of overtime pay was.
“I’m sure it’ll both interrupt the workday — which is very ironic since we’re always being hounded about productivity and efficiency — and create a lot of discourse that I don’t want to have to listen to all day,” said second worker, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “I was also a little angry because, again, there are lots of other things that we get denied paid time off for — snowstorms, events during work hours that aren’t work-related, etc. But they’re offering OT for this?”
Representatives of Bath Iron Works did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and a Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment.
“We haven’t announced any trip for the Secretary and have nothing to add at this time,” said Joel Valdez, the spokesperson.
Located in Bath, Maine, at the mouth of the Kennebec River, the shipyard is one of the largest employers in the state and has long been one of the most reliable sources for steady, well-paying union jobs in the Midcoast region. A subsidiary of the defense giant General Dynamics, BIW plays a key role in building and maintaining U.S. Navy ships and has been the recipient of billions of dollars in government contracts.
Charles Krugh, the president of Bath Iron Works, has signaled to President Donald Trump that his facility is ready to take part in the construction of the “Trump” battleships.
“America’s warfighters deserve the most advanced, lethal and survivable combat ships we can deliver to protect our country and our families,” Krugh said in December, echoing Hegseth’s fondness for the term “warfighter.”
When news emerged this week that Hegseth was coming to the yard, however, reactions among the staff were muted, the BIW worker told The Intercept. They said many colleagues greeted news of Hegseth’s visit with feelings ranging from “apathy to disgust,”
“I hate Pete Hegseth to my core,” the first worker said. “He has no business discussing warships, or anything involved with what we do here. I find it insulting that he is given any authority or respect.”
The worker acknowledged that not everyone at BIW would share the same view of Hegseth.
“We have plenty of die-hard Trump supporters, and I don’t know how much of that fanaticism spreads to Hegseth,” the worker said. “I think if anything he’s an afterthought by most people.”
