BATH

Bath Iron Works is laying off 88 workers, some effective this Friday and the second wave on Oct. 5.

Jim DeMartini, communications manager at the shipyard, said Monday that the announcement was made internally last week.

BIW had 5,250 employees as of last Friday, he said. Typically, the company employs 5,200 to 5,400 people, he said.

“There have been layoffs in various production trades, which is typical of the shipbuilding industry,” DeMartini said. “This reflects the fact that we no longer have the DDG-112 here. We’re continuing to focus on the DDG-1000 and its two follow ships, the DDG-1001 and 1002, as well as the DDG-115.”

The last BIW-built DDG-112 Aegis guided-missile destroyer, the Michael Murphy, sailed away on Sept. 5.

Last week, the U.S. Navy announced that BIW had received a $38.9 million modification to a previously awarded contract to perform services associated with the detail design and construction of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers. DeMartini said at the time that the contract allows for continuation of work in progress, and does not represent any new jobs.

The announced layoffs include 45 welders; 22 preservation technicians, or painters; 14 ship-fitters, who do structural work; and seven outside machinists.

“As much as we hate this,” DeMartini said, “it’s the cyclical demand for certain trades at certain times.”

DeMartini said that the company will work with the union and crafts administration personnel in an attempt to move some laid-off workers to different positions.

“Generally, there’s some change in these numbers, but not to a significant degree,” he said.

The employment outlook at the shipyard “should be stable over the next couple of years because of the existing contracts,” he said.

Dan Dowling, president of Local S6 machinists’ union, wasn’t so optimistic.

“It’s all going in the wrong direction right now,” Dowling said. “A majority (of the layoffs) have been welders.”

lgrard@timesrecord.com

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