BATH — Bath Iron Works’ largest union has voted to replace President Mike Keenan, who made a series of allegations against two other union officers earlier this year.

Keenan will be replaced by Chris Weirs.

Official ballot results, verified Tuesday by a union official, showed Rocky Grenier and Jason Perry were re-elected as vice president and secretary-treasurer. Shawn Tardif was elected conductor sentinel. Tom Darling, Rick Poulin and Bill Barrows were elected trustees and Ray Gauthier was re-elected as chief steward.

Each will serve a three-year term.

The leadership turnover comes months after infighting escalated at the union, prompting accusations and finger-pointing among officials.

In March, Keenan charged Perry and Gauthier with incompetence, negligence and insubordination, among other things.

Advertisement

Keenan’s accusations against Perry included failing to collect or file various tax forms, closing the office early and refusing to turn over documents to the union president.

Gauthier was accused of not showing up for mandatory meetings, refusing to comply with directives and failing to properly review and account for lost-time reimbursements for union representatives for which he was responsible.

Following Keenan’s accusations against Gauthier and Perry, 100 union members voted no-confidence in Keenan’s leadership. Keenan dismissed the vote, arguing that there were more than 3,500 union members and that he had heavy support.

A July 2 letter from Robert Martinez Jr., international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, to Keenan confirmed all claims against Gauthier had been dropped.

Perry confirmed Tuesday that the claims against him were dropped by a union trial committee as well. Because of his position as secretary/treasurer, allegations against Perry were examined on a higher level. Accusations against Gauthier were reviewed at the local level.

Perry and Gauthier have characterized Keenan’s actions as politically motivated. The two called it retribution after they turned to the national organization for help dealing with Keenan, whom they said did not comply with direction from the national organization regarding internal operations.

In July, overseer Tony Blevins replaced former Local S6 machinist union President Jay Wadleigh, who is now at the District 4 office in Lisbon.

Comments are no longer available on this story

filed under: