[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 180 (Wednesday, November 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5183-H5184]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING ELECTRIC BOAT SHIPYARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Van Orden). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a recent event 
in my district, which I think is good for the local economy but also 
good for our Nation.
  I have the privilege of representing Electric Boat shipyard, which 
for 120 years has been the primary general contractor for submarine 
construction for the U.S. Navy.
  On October 6, the Metal Trades Council, which is the confederation of 
metal trades workers that have individual unions--the boilermakers, 
electricians, plumbers, and pipefitters, all the folks that bend steel 
and do the amazing work every day in terms of protecting our Nation--
reached a 5-year labor contract with General Dynamics, which I think is 
a real testament in terms of showing the value that our country and 
Congress actually place on their work, because ultimately they have one 
customer, and that is the U.S. Navy, which is funded by the United 
States Congress under Article I, Section 8, Clause 13 of the 
Constitution which states very clearly that Congress shall provide and 
maintain a Navy.
  This contract, which was ratified by a 2-1 margin, starting next year 
basically takes the starting wage for a semiskilled worker, someone who 
has done preapprenticeship training but is kind of entry level, from 
roughly $21 an hour, and over the course of the 5-year term, that is 
going to grow to $43 an hour. There is a package of health benefits and 
retirement that are included in this.
  It couldn't happen at a better time right now, because the demand 
signal, in terms of submarine construction, has grown by leaps and 
bounds, given the challenges that are happening all

[[Page H5184]]

across the world, particularly in the Indo-Pacific with China's 
increase in its navy.
  I have a picture next to me which shows the next submarine that is in 
the queue. That is the USS Iowa SSN 797, which went through a 
christening recently and is going to be commissioned and deployed in 
the near future. There are about 13 more Virginia-class submarines that 
are in the production queue, again, to meet this demand signal.
  That has actually been even more amplified with the AUKUS agreement, 
the new security agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom, 
which is going to allow us to help Australia recapitalize its own 
submarine fleet, which is diesel-electric today, into nuclear-powered 
submarines.
  Australian shipyard workers and policymakers are going to be coming 
to my district in terms of what I think is going to be one of the 
smartest strategic moves our country has made in recent years, bringing 
in a great ally that has been with us in every conflict going back to 
World War I, is part of Five Eyes, and can definitely be trusted in 
terms of critical information like nuclear propulsion technology. This 
is something which we have not shared with another country since 1958 
when we did it with the British Navy.
  I congratulate Peter Baker, who is the head of the Metal Trades 
Council, who led the way in terms of negotiating this agreement, as 
well as Shawn Coyne from the H.R. department at Electric Boat. This is 
going to create an attractive signal to young people, who are being 
hiring by leaps and bounds. Just this year alone they have hired 4,400. 
In terms of coming into the yard, they are not entering just a job but 
actually a career with a very strong, secure economic future for 
themselves and their families.
  That is good news not only for them and for the region, but also for 
our Nation because of the incredibly important work that they do every 
day for which we are so grateful.

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