The U.S. Navy is keeping tabs on a strike over pay at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works, producer of its most advanced surfaced combatant, but was steering clear of any involvement in the labor dispute. "At this point, we're just ... monitoring the situation real closely," said Dick Cole of the Arlington, Va.-based Naval Sea Systems Command, which oversees the building of the Navy's fleet and the manufacturing of its onboard weapons. Federal acquisition regulations require the Navy to remain impartial in a dispute between labor and the managers of any of its contracts, Cole said. Picket lines went up on Monday at Bath, Maine's largest employer with about 7,000 workers.