From Staff and Wire Reports

Members of Bath Iron Works’ largest labor union are set to vote this Sunday on a new contract, but the suspended local president has sent a letter to the 3,400 members, urging them to turn it down.

Mike Keenan, who was suspended as president of Local S6 in March when the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers put the local into trusteeship, called the contract a “sell-out of major proportions,” in a letter sent out today.

Keenan and several other suspended leaders had been members of the local’s negotiating committee until their suspension.

Keenan wrote that in the past, Local S6 had rights under the contract to enforce its provisions. New language in the contract would give the international union and its District Lodge 4 the same rights, he wrote. And the proposed agreement has language that allows either party to a reopen negotiations at any time before Jan. 15, 2012, if “economic, operational or competitive” conditions change.

Keenan, former Vice President Troy Osgood, Chief Steward Michael Cyr and Trustee Cathy London filed a lawsuit against the international union and several of its officers Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland, claiming violations of federal labor laws, as well as defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress under state laws.

Osgood resigned his post this week, describing the international union as “similar ... to an authoritarian dictatorship.”

International spokesman John Carr said today he believes the contract negotiated with BIW is one of the best in the industry.

The proposal provides a pay increase of 3.5 percent in the first year, 3.8 percent in the second and third years and 4 percent in the final year, Carr said.

Also, health care remains the same with no increases in employee contributions, Carr added, though some deductibles and copays would increase under some plans. Bath Iron Works also will increase its contributions to employee pensions, he said.

“If this is not an industry-leading agreement, then it’s tied for it,” Carr said. “It’s a healthy package and it should secure the future of our members through the life of the agreement.”

Carr said the contract is a four-year pact, like the old contract that expires at midnight Sunday.