Two charges of unfair labor practices have been filed against the new operator of the Ketchikan Shipyard, part of JAG Marine Group, by the union that represented shipyard workers during the tenure of the state-owned facility’s previous operator.

The charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board by Local 23 of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, known as SMART.

Local 23 asserts in the first filing that JAG Ketchikan is required — but has refused — to bargain with the union in good faith toward a new collective bargaining agreement. The union’s second filing asserts that JAG has unilaterally changed terms of workers’ employment since the company began operating the state-owned facility in September.

JAG representatives dispute that the company is required to negotiate with the union. JAG also disputes that it is required to abide by the collective bargaining agreement that the shipyard workers had with the facility’s previous operator, Vigor.

In addition to filing the unfair labor practice charges, the union has asked the shipyard’s owner — the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority — to demand that JAG recognize and bargain with the union.

Union officials and organizers have been in Ketchikan since around Thanksgiving, talking with shipyard workers and circulating a petition in the community for support.

The shipyard has been bustling with work on state and federal ships since JAG Ketchikan began operating the facility in mid-September.

It’s a marked change from the period between early July and mid-September when no work was underway as the shipyard’s then operator, Vigor Alaska, wound down its presence after it was told that AIDEA would not renew its yearslong operating agreement.

JAG hired a significant portion of Ketchikan workers who had been laid off by Vigor and added additional staff. At one point earlier this winter, employment reached nearly 200 people, though a substantial number were traveling workers from out of state.

Employment numbers fluctuate depending on project status. As of Feb. 13, 135 people were working at the shipyard, according to general manager Bergen Wieler.

The origins of Local 23’s involvement with the shipyard goes back to 2022, when shipyard workers voted for exclusive representation by the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers. In early 2023, the union reached a three-year collective bargaining agreement with Vigor Alaska.

Vigor had been operating the shipyard under an operating agreement with AIDEA since 2012, when it purchased the previous operator, Alaska Ship & Drydock.

After losing its contract with the state, Vigor agreed to sell its on-site assets to JAG, which also operates a yard in Seward, and has facilities in Michigan and Virginia. None of JAG’s operations are unionized.

The union asserts that JAG is required by federal legal precedent to negotiate labor terms with the union in part because JAG is Vigor’s “successor” and there is continuity of operations and workforce between the two operators.

That charge was filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 19.

JAG disputes the union’s legal reasoning, challenging the assertion that it is required to recognize the union and its old contract with Vigor.

The union cited as an example the change from its 2023 collective bargaining agreement with Vigor, which had provided workers with premium-free health insurance through the union’s health and welfare fund. JAG’s health insurance plans involve premiums paid by the workers, which, according to company information, increased by more than 25% at the start of the year.