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A26 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 1 July 2020
Striking shipbuilders are losing health coverage in pandemic

By DAVID SHARP The strike has big implica-
Associated Press tions not just for the ship-
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — builder but also for the
The stakes are growing in Navy, which wants war-
a strike against Navy ship- ships to be delivered as
builder Bath Iron Works dur- quickly as possible at a
ing a global pandemic as time of growing competi-
company-provided health tion from Russia and China.
insurance is running out for Bath Iron Works is one of
4,300 shipbuilders who’ve the Navy’s five largest ship-
left their jobs. builders and one of only
Striking workers from Ma- two that make destroyers,
chinists Union Local S6 will the workhorse of the fleet,
be responsible for their which are capable of si-
own insurance effective multaneously battling air-
Wednesday, just days af- craft, missiles, warships and
ter three workers who car- submarines. Some of them
pooled together tested have ballistic missile de-
positive for the coronavirus. fense capability.
At least one of those three The shipyard is already
workers who tested positive about six months behind
had been on the picket line scheduled, partly because
in Bath, a union spokesman of the pandemic, and it
said. Striking workers said Striking shipbuilders picket outside an entrance to Bath Iron Works, Monday, June 22, 2020, in will need subcontractors to
Tuesday they were deter- Bath, Maine. Associated Press help get back on schedule,
mined to press on even with Bath Iron Works President
the strike as tens of thou- Farrell, who’s married and looking at other jobs Campbell, a 55-year-old Dirk Lesko has said.
sands of people remain has four children, and fears and health care options. sandblaster, has money The union has character-
unemployed in Maine, and subcontracting and seniori- Keeping health insurance set aside, and he’s paying ized some of the shipyard’s
several states report surg- ty changes could force him through the so-called CO- more to be on his wife’s in- proposals as an attempt
ing cases of COVID-19. The out of his job in the tin shop. BRA program can cost up surance. “I just hope that to break the union, while
workers are striking over Workers overwhelmingly to a couple of thousand both sides will get together the company contends it
subcontracting, work rules rejected the company’s fi- dollars a month. Others said and try to resolve this,” he needs to streamline opera-
and seniority, while wages nal contract proposal and they will simply do without said. Bath Iron Works, a sub- tions to lower prices to re-
and benefits are a sec- went on strike June 22. health insurance. sidiary of Virginia-based main competitive.
ondary concern. The com- There have been no talks Kelley Hammond, a General Dynamics, pro- The company hired 1,800
pany’s final offer called for since then. The company 58-year-old marine electri- vided a good insurance workers last year and is
a three-year contract with had no immediate com- cian, opted to forgo pur- plan for workers because hiring another 1,000 this
pay raises of 3% in each ment Tuesday. chasing insurance and the union negotiated for it, year, so there’s no effort
year. The last strike, in 2000, last- filled a blood pressure pre- and that underscores the to shrink the workforce, the
“The choice is very simple. ed 55 days. scription Tuesday, before necessity of fighting for a company said. The ship-
I had to strike. There was Workers are getting pre- the expiration of the com- good contract, said union yard employs about 6,800
no other option,” said Brad pared for the long haul, pany’s insurance. Gordon spokesman Tim Suitter. workers.q
Judge temporarily blocks tell-all book by Trump’s niece

Court Judge Hal B. Gre- ing or distributing any book addresses matters of great
enwald in Poughkeepsie, or any portions thereof" be- public concern and impor-
New York, issued an order fore he decides the validity tance about a sitting presi-
requiring the niece, Mary of Robert S. Trump's claims. dent in an election year,
Trump, and her publisher to Robert Trump argues Mary should not be suppressed
explain why they should not Trump must comply with a even for one day," Boutrous
be blocked from publishing written agreement among said in a statement.
the book: "Too Much and family members who set- Adam Rothberg, a Simon &
Never Enough: How My tled a dispute over Fred Schuster spokesperson, said
Family Created the World's Trump's will that a book the publisher was disap-
Most Dangerous Man." A about them cannot be pointed but looks forward
hearing was set for July 10. published without their per- "to prevailing in this case
The book, scheduled to mission. based on well-established
be published July 28, was Mary Trump's lawyer, Theo- precedents regarding prior
written by Mary Trump, the dore J. Boutrous Jr., and her restraint." "We look forward
In this Thursday, June 25, 2020, file photo, President Donald daughter of Fred Trump publisher, Simon & Schus- to vigorously litigating this
Trump walks on the South Lawn after arriving on Marine One at Jr., the president's elder ter, promised an immedi- case, and will seek the
the White House in Washington. brother, who died in 1981. ate appeal. maximum remedies avail-
Associated Press An online description of it "The trial court's temporary able by law for the enor-
By LARRY NEUMEISTER of claims by the president's says it reveals "a nightmare restraining order is only mous damages," he said.
Associated Press brother that its publica- of traumas, destructive re- temporary but it still is a pri- "Short of corrective action
A tell-all book by President tion would violate a pact lationships, and a tragic or restraint on core political to immediately cease their
Donald Trump's niece can- among family members, a combination of neglect speech that flatly violates egregious conduct, we will
not be published until a judge said Tuesday. and abuse." The judge the First Amendment," Bou- pursue this case to the very
judge decides the merits New York state Supreme banned "publishing, print- trous said. "This book, which end." q