Jul 28, 2020 | iMail
Article originally posted on IAMAW.ca
In another stunning organising win for IAM District 78, the 530 Personal Support Workers (PSWs) that work for RNS Health Care in York Region voted by a 3 to 1 margin to be represented by our union.
District 78 Organizer Rootisha Rampat-Sukhu and IAM Grand Lodge Organizer Scott Jackson worked with our newest members for several months, answering their concerns and assuring them it was possible.
“This was a very different organizing campaign due to the COVID-19 shutdown,” said Jackson. “We relied heavily on the internet and other online technologies, but it was Rootisha’s dedication and work ethic that achieved this win.”
“The public scrutiny of workers in the health care sector galvanised the new members into joining the IAM. The PSWs specifically chose the IAM despite the fact that other unions also had a presence – but they chose the IAM,” continued Jackson. “From the beginning, we ran a very focused campaign and kept to the issues that concerned the workers. The employer ran an aggressive campaign, but the members stayed true and won out in the end.”
The new members received the $4 per hour pandemic pay raise only the day after the IAM filed for certification.
RNS Health Care PSWs provide home care services for clients throughout York Region and beyond.
Photo: Scott Jackson (left), Rootisha Rampat-Sukhu right), and IAM Local 1231 member Heather Johnston centre) who initiated this campaign.
The post Canada District 78 Organizes 530 New Healthcare Members appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 28, 2020 | iMail
The IAM along with other aviation unions are lauding 223 bipartisan members of Congress for calling for an extension of the CARES Act Payroll Support Program (PSP) through March 31, 2021. The program, which allocated grants to commercial airlines and airline contractors for the exclusive purpose of keeping employees on payroll with wages and benefits, is set to expire September 30, 2020.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) led the letter to congressional leadership.
“The IAM thanks the 223 members of Congress for swiftly responding to the airline industry’s call for an extension of the Payroll Support Program grants,” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “The continuation of this program is vital to protecting the livelihoods of thousands of Machinists come October 1. The IAM will continue to lead the fight on Capitol Hill to ensure our members’ futures.”
With the resurgence of COVID-19 in several states across the country and a vaccine for the virus yet to be developed, passenger demand for air travel will not recover before the PSP expires. Without an extension of the PSP before then, hundreds of thousands of airline workers could be furloughed on October 1.
As a response to the worst financial crisis in U.S. airline industry history brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. airlines received $50 billion under the March 2020 CARES Act, with $25 billion in direct grants to be utilized exclusively for the continuation of airline workers’ pay, benefits and employment.
Read the full letter to congressional leadership.
The post Machinists, Aviation Unions Commend Bipartisan Push for Airline Worker Payroll Support Program Extension appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 28, 2020 | iMail
The 2020 North American hurricane season is upon us and the Machinists Union is preparing to assist members who will be impacted by this year’s storms. The IAM Disaster Relief Fund quickly provides assistance to IAM brothers and sisters in need. Since no one really knows when disaster will strike, having resources readily available in advance of life altering events is crucial to the program’s effectiveness.
Consider donating to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund today.
“The Machinists Union is a family and we must be prepared to help when our members are in need,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “I am proud of how IAM districts, locals and individual members have shown how much they care in past disasters. Hurricane season is here and we need to be prepared in advance. I hope we all can donate a little to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund today so we can be there for our members when they need us the most.”
Every dollar you give to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund goes directly to IAM members and their families in need.
Donations are tax deductible. IAM Assistance is a registered IRS 501(3) (c) – Tax ID: 46-2575531
The post Hurricane Season is Here and IAM Members Will Need Our Help appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 28, 2020 | iMail
4,300 motivated IAM members at Bath Iron Works in Maine are on strike to protest the company’s excessive use of subcontractors, a practice that undercuts Machinists members at the shipbuilding facility.
The post IP Martinez, GVP Bryant and Maine Elected Officials Rally Striking Local S6 Shipbuilders appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 27, 2020 | LL S6 Leadership Alerts, Negotiations
Brothers and Sisters,
We are at the commencement of our sixth week on strike against Bath Iron Works. Questions surrounding the mediation process have come from many of you. Please allow us to explain, Local S6 spoke with FMCS mediators twice last week regarding returning to the table to resume negotiations for a fair contract for all of our members of Local S6, the irreplaceable skilled production workers of BIW. The only response from BIWs spokesperson was the company “remains fully engaged in the mediation process” and “when that process calls for the parties to return to the bargaining table and resume negotiations, we are prepared to do so.”
The whole point of this process is to get both parties back to the table as soon as possible. This is typical BIW PR that doesn’t accurately depict the intent of the process or the actual progress made. The mediator is supposed to get us back to the table which we are clearly prepared to do. We are prepared with additional options, plans, and proposals for increased job security and schedule recuperation to assist BIW.
The Union already knows that BIW has brought subcontractors into the shipyard and there are plans for a number of additional ones to enter the gates and scab out our work for a predetermined amount of time. This only gives hold to the theory that BIW has no intention of going back to the negotiating table anytime soon because of the contractual agreements with the subcontracts they are now employing. There is a clear and growing understanding across this state and country for that matter, that BIW’s last, best, and final proposal forced the members of Local S6 on strike. BIW will stop at nothing to subcontract our work, trying to starve us out, in an attempt to get what they don’t need. If BIW put as much effort into working collaboratively with us as they do with subbing our work out and watering down our skill sets with low paying jobs offers, we would be one of the leading assets in the shipbuilding industry.
How can BIW go from a shipyard that would send our members all over the world to now a shipyard that needs our own work subbed out for the very same reason, SKILL. How could BIW have delivered more than 30 DDG-51 Destroyers on schedule and now we can’t. I’m sure the company can come up with a litany of excuses, but the Local S6 is only interested in a fix.
In Solidarity, Local S6 Leadership
