The IAM is engaged at all levels to find solutions to save IAM jobs at a Ferndale, WA aluminum smelter, the last remaining such facility in the western U.S. and one of only seven left in the nation. Roughly 600 IAM Local 2379 (District 160) members stand to lose their jobs by the end of July.
The closing of the Alcoa Intalco Works plant would further exacerbate U.S. reliance on foreign aluminum. While China, which as for decades dumped cheap aluminum on the U.S. market, boasts approximately 150 aluminum smelters and produces 44 million tons per year, the U.S. produces only 1.8 million tons per year.
U.S. dependence on foreign aluminum has become apparent during the COVID-19 crisis, when high-quality aluminum has been needed quickly to manufacture ventilators, hospital beds and other vital medical equipment. The plant also produces aluminum used in the manufacturing, aerospace and automotive industries.
“In addition to making sure our members receive all assistance possible during this closure, we have not given up on saving these jobs and this critically important industry,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Our union has long held that as a nation we must do everything possible to support domestic manufacturing. We cannot rely on importing critical supplies like aluminum, especially during times of conflict or national emergencies.
“Together with our partners in this effort, we will continue to explore a new buyer for the Alcoa Intalco facility,” continued Martinez. “With cooperation on the local, state and federal levels, I believe we can make the necessary policy changes to make this plant attractive to another company with an interest in working with the IAM to produce aluminum right here at home.”
“When a plant like this one closes it’s a blow to the whole nation,” said General Vice President Gary R. Allen. “Even more upsetting is the lack of interest by this administration even though they ran on a platform that promised to fight to keep plants and jobs here in our country.”
A coalition of 19 labor unions, including the IAM, wrote a letter urging U.S. Senate leadership to improve and then swiftly pass the HEROES Act(H.R. 6800), legislation that will protect Americans’ health and restore the economy.
While this legislation includes many priorities the IAM fought for, including issuing an emergency temporary OSHA standard, extending unemployment insurance and subsidized COBRA benefits, it also includes a poison bill that would undermine the retirement security of millions of Americans.
The HEROES Act includes a composite pension plan known as the GROW Act that would end employer withdrawal liability from multi-employer pension plans, eliminate the safety net of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) and make benefits unpredictable. The IAM and several other unions representing millions of workers and retirees had warned against including the GROW Act in coronavirus relief legislation.
“We do have concerns, however, about a second set of multiemployer plan provisions included in the HEROES Act. Within the labor movement, we do not share the same sense of unanimity regarding Division N, the Giving Retirement Options to Workers (‘GROW’) Act,” the unions write in the letter. “Since there is a lack of consensus in the multiemployer community regarding the inclusion of the GROW Act in this legislation, we ask that Division N, the GROW Act, be dropped from the HEROES Act and we urge swift passage.”
Due to the postponement of the 40th IAM Grand Lodge Convention, fundraising raffle dates have also been extended and will take place during the Convention September 12-17, 2021 in San Diego.
The new deadline for getting the ticket stubs and check(s) to the Western Territory Office has been extended to Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
Enter today for a chance to win one of the top prizes:
– First prize: 2019 John Deere Limited Edition Gator and Road Clipper Trailer
– Second prize: 54” Snap On Tool Box
– Third prize: $500 Visa gift card
To purchase raffle tickets, contact IAM Grand Lodge Representative Jim Watson at jwatson@iamaw.org or 916-985-8101. Visit iamglc2020.org for more information.
All proceeds will support the 2021 Grand Lodge Convention.
District 751 members working at Triumph Composites Systems in Spokane, WA ratified a three-year agreement that brought improvements in several areas. The contract demonstrated the importance of collective bargaining and membership rights even during tough economic times.
Bargaining during a global pandemic with layoffs at the facility was challenging, but after members identified their top issues, the union was able to make gains in several areas. The new contract provides two $1,000 signing bonuses, a 2 percent wage increase, elimination of a two-tier wage system, pension increases, yearly contributions to the Machinists Retirement Plan and other contract improvements.
Union negotiators were able to beat back a dramatic cost shift in health care the company was proposing and maintain the current plan for the life of the agreement with the annual premium increase now capped at 10 percent (previously 8 percent).
In addition, during effects bargaining, the union secured severance for laid-off members of 160 hours pay and one month of medical leave. Previously, there was no severance or medical after layoff.
The path to a new contract at Triumph demonstrated the importance of bargaining rights. Earlier in the year, with the 737 MAX grounding approaching one-year, Triumph approached the union to ask about a possible one-year extension – no improvements, no takeaways, simply extending the current agreement for one year. At that time, formal bargaining was scheduled to begin in April with the contract expiring midnight May 11. District 751 President Jon Holden and Business Representative Steve Warren talked with stewards and scheduled membership meetings on March 12 to discuss the situation and agree on a path forward to communicate to Triumph.
“We discussed transparently what was at stake with the members, outlined possible scenarios including the current bargaining timeline scheduled to begin in a month and came to a consensus to move forward with traditional bargaining. When you open a contract at other than expiration or extend an agreement, you forego the ability to discuss issues members identified as priorities and cannot make proposals based on those priorities,” said Holden. “Had we given up our right to bring forward our issues, we would have gotten nothing. The moral here is that maintaining the right to bargain doesn’t guarantee what you will get, but it gives you the right to determine your priorities and make proposals based on the membership’s priorities. Having the ability to bargain gives you a chance to make those improvements; and that is what happened here.”
“Congratulations to the bargaining committee and 751 leadership. This is an outstanding example of what the IAM stands for, above all putting the interest of the members first,” said Western Territory General Vice President Gary R. Allen. “The way this group held the line amid the virus and the company’s meager first offer, to secure a better deal is simply remarkable.”
Just days after meeting with the members in March, the world changed because of COVID-19. Boeing shut down for a month and Triumph scheduled layoffs for April 24 and April 30 (with no severance in the contract or offered to those suddenly facing layoff).
“These are tough times, and there was a lot to consider. Negotiating via videoconferencing instead of face-to-face was different,” said Steward Jerry Purser, who also served on the bargaining committee. “Members are pleased with the results and glad we entered bargaining rather than taking a one-year extension. A lot of things played into the situation, but our members remained united.”
“We made the right decision, entered bargaining and secured important things for our members in the toughest times we have seen since 9-11. Our members at Triumph are better off with the new contract and we secured severance provisions for those impacted by layoff,” Holden added.
District 751 would like to Jon Holden, Steve Warren, Chris Powers, Spencer Thal, Jerry Purser, Aaron Smith and John Warren who served on the IAM bargaining committee for Triumph.
IAM Chief of Staff and Director of Trade and Globalization Owen Herrnstadt on Thursday, June 11 will join U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in a webinar to discuss what needs to be done in the U.S. to improve our nation’s manufacturing sector and emerge from the COVID-19 crisis with a more fair economy.
Outsourcing has cost North American workers millions of jobs. In the U.S. alone, over five million manufacturing jobs were lost before the pandemic began, and several million more have been lost since. This crisis has made clear that revitalizing U.S. manufacturing is valuable to all of us.
The virtual event will be held Thursday, June 11 at 3 p.m. ET. You can RSVP here.
Herrnstadt recently authored an article for the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) on this topic. Baldwin, the ranking member of the Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, has been a leader in identifying perils to our economy and national resilience from the hollowing out of our manufacturing capacity.
