The time to shut down Bath Iron Works in the face of the coronavirus epidemic is NOW. With 8,000 workers living in 16 counties and traveling to work by bus and van from remote parking lots, BIW has the capacity to set the state on fire, not to mention the Bath area. Both the President and the National Pandemic Task Force have asked America all to stay down for at least 15 days and to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. Why is BIW exempt? It is unconscionable to ask workers to choose between caring for their children–who are out of school in this emergency–and feeding them. And equally unconscionable for a large corporation not to take every step to keep its workers and the surrounding community safe and to share the financial sacrifice so many are making, both individuals and small businesses.

Think of Bath as a containment zone and people being cared for in tents if we do not flatten the curve now.

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, the two most explosive points in Maine were Bath, where the shipyard, then on a war footing, was not shut down, and Lewiston, where greedy mill owners who were also city selectmen refused to shut down despite being asked to by the state. The mills are closed now and we are not at war. The delay of a few weeks or even a month or two in producing a new ship is not a matter of national security. BIW has already budgeted to pay its workers. Failure to contain this outbreak and flatten the curve, however, isa matter of national security. And what good does it do the company to have all of its workers quarantined and sick? Allowing BIW to remain open will undo all of the hard work so many people are doing and all of the sacrifices so many are making to contain the virus. This is serious. We’re in community transmission now and cases will increase exponentially — the Yard needs to shut down now. People before profits. Please contact your representatives.