Oct 6, 2020 | iMail
We are closer than ever to save the jobs of tens of thousands of airline workers. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the IAM and our airline union coalition are making huge strides toward securing airline worker relief.
Unfortunately, House Republicans blocked a vote on the DeFazio-Larsen airline Payroll Support Program extension (H.R. 8504) Friday. Despite this setback, we expect further movement on this urgent issue.
“We are done being patient for Congress to act,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Our members need relief and they need it now. We will keep the heat on our elected officials until the Payroll Support Program is passed and our members are back on the job. I am sick and tired of these politicians taking vacations while working people are on the street.”
“IAM members are fully aware of what is happening here and they will not to be used as bargaining chips,” wrote IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja in a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “They expect you to support them not with words, but with action. It is disgraceful to stand in the way of preserving airline workers’ jobs and watch their livelihoods become upended, their healthcare revoked and state unemployment programs become bloated beyond calculation.”
Critically, H.R. 8504 requires airlines seeking aid to recall employees who were furloughed after September 30.
“Tens of thousands of airline workers stand on the brink of being fired, losing their certification requirements and seeing their livelihoods and financial security ripped away,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “Today, Democrats provided a path forward to avert catastrophe for these workers. Chairman DeFazio requested unanimous consent for his stand-alone bipartisan bill to extend the Payroll Support Program. Disappointingly, Republicans objected to the legislation.”
We must keep up the pressure!
Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 to urge them to support H.R. 8504, a standalone extension of the airline Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021, and to save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.
Read the IAM and airline coalition letter to every member of the U.S. House urging passage of H.R. 8504.
The post Keep Up the Pressure! Airline Worker Relief on Hold, But Momentum Growing appeared first on IAMAW.
Oct 6, 2020 | iMail
The Machinists Wood, Pulp and Paper Council (MWPPC) on Saturday held its first-ever virtual barbeque competition to help raise money for Guide Dogs of America / Tender Loving Canines (GDA/TLC). The successful event, which followed all safety protocols, brought in almost $24,000.
“We had fun, ate well, and, most importantly, raised a lot of money for a great cause,” said MWPPC President Billy Barnwell. “This has been a tough year for everyone, especially for GDA, which relies on donations to operate. Despite some obstacles, we found a way to make this happen and provide some much-needed support for GDA.”
WATCH: Machinists Wood, Pulp and Paper Council announces BBQ competition winners
“Thank you to our many sponsors, donators, cooks, and judges who made our first virtual barbecue so special,” added Barnwell. “Without your assistance, this event wouldn’t have been possible.”
Guide Dogs of America is the IAM’s favorite charity. At the beginning of this year, GDA completed a merger, and now provides hardworking service dogs for people who are blind/ visually impaired, veterans, individuals with autism, and facilities to become trusted companions that bring confidence, independence, and mobility. Their services are provided free of charge to residents in the U.S. and Canada.
Sponsors
Title Sponsors: IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr., Humana
Prime Sponsors: Woodworkers Local W12 (Weed, CA), IAM District 112 (Jacksonville, FL), Scott Capital Advisors
Select Sponsors: IAM General Secretary-Treasurer’s Department, IAM Woodworkers Department, Michelle Barnwell, K & R Branding Solutions, Image Pointe, IP Casino Resort and Spa (Biloxi, MS), Shasta Grown, IAM Local 759
Judges
GDA President Russ Gittlen, Winpisinger Center Director Chris Wagoner, Winpisinger Center Assistant Director Mary McHugh, Associate General Counsel Laura Ewan
Winners
Grand Champion First Place: Southern Territory Grand Lodge Representative James Little
Grand Champion Second Place: District W24 Business Representative Brandon Bryant
Grand Champion Third Place: Local 297 President John Gehringer
Beef Brisket Champion: Western Territory Chief of Staff Bobby Martinez
Pork Rib Champion: Western Territory Grand Lodge Representative James Watson
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Oct 1, 2020 | iMail
The IAM is urging an immediate, standalone extension of expired airline worker relief, known as the Payroll Support Program (PSP). Tens of thousands of airline workers were furloughed at midnight on Thursday, October 1 after Congress could not come to terms before aid from the CARES Act ran out.
Reports on Thursday indicated that negotiations for an overall relief package remained far apart. Without consensus to help all Americans, the IAM is urging immediate passage of stand-alone legislation to extend the airline PSP.
Read the IAM’s letters to the House and Senate.
The IAM supports standalone PSP extension bills and urges House and Senate leadership to immediately pass the bipartisan Air Carrier Worker Support Extension Act, led by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).
“As negotiations continue today on a relief package, our members are now facing the grim reality of trying to survive during the global pandemic without a paycheck and health care benefits,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “We have long supported the bipartisan negotiations to pass a comprehensive relief package to help all American workers and affected industries through the economic distress of this global pandemic, but time has run out for airline workers that we proudly represent. It is past time for Congress to act. We must act now.”
Both American Airlines and United Airlines proceeded with more than 32,000 furloughs beginning Thursday. Both airlines have agreed to rescind furloughs if federal aid is approved in the next few days.
“How much more nonsense and political posturing must the working people of our country have to endure?” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “Our members risk their health every day to move people and goods across this country. I encourage every Machinist to loudly let Congress know how you feel.”
Here’s how you can still help save thousands of airline jobs:
- Call your Senators and Representative at 866-829-3298 and urge them to pass an extension of the airline Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021, and to save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.
- Tell your Senators and Representative to extend airline worker relief.
“We just need to make sure that people understand that we’re people,” IAM member Andrea’ Myers, a United Airlines Reservations Agent in Detroit, told the Washington Post. “We’re not just a number at United Airlines. We have families. We have things we have to get done.”
The post As Coronavirus Aid Talks Stall, Machinists Urge Immediate Airline Relief Extension appeared first on IAMAW.
Oct 1, 2020 | iMail
IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. has been joined by U.S. Reps. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), John Garamendi (D-CA) and Jackie Speier (D-CA), along with the American Shipbuilding Suppliers Association, in defending “Buy American” reforms in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The group wrote an op-ed published by Defense News explaining the commonsense plan to source more parts from American-made manufacturers and build more with U.S. labor.
In July, the IAM, along with U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), championed the NDAA amendment that expands Buy American requirements for defense procurement to 100 percent by 2026. Currently, only 50 percent of defense production is required to be produced domestically, not counting frequent exceptions to the law.
“By building more defense system component parts in the U.S., we will be utilizing taxpayer dollars here at home rather than sending that money abroad, and we’ll foster a new generation of well-trained, well-paid, American workers,” the op-ed states. “Our defense industrial base must be viewed as an inherent component of our national defense.”
The article goes on to state that “the Buy American reforms under consideration in Congress strike the right balance between economic cooperation and comingled supply chains with the needs of the American worker and ensuring our national security in an uncertain world.”
Read the full op-ed here.
The post Machinists, Congressional Allies Defend ‘Buy American’ Defense Expansion appeared first on IAMAW.
Oct 1, 2020 | iMail
An op-ed by International President Robert Martinez Jr. on the importance of voting in the upcoming election written for the Union Label and Service Trades Department, AFL-CIO newsletter, the Label Letter.
Working people were promised the world in 2016. Candidate Trump boastfully proclaimed that, if elected, “you won’t lose one plant. You’ll have plants coming into this country. You’re going to have jobs again… I promise you.”
Here in the Machinists Union, especially among our members in the aerospace, defense and manufacturing industries, promises to stop decades of offshoring and outsourcing were at least worth listening to. As an aircraft assembler by trade who has seen critical defense jobs from my plant move to Mexico, I know the toll that job loss takes on families and communities.
So when a business man with a brash attitude told the nation that he would put working people first, many of our members took Trump for his word. Four years later, it’s time to take a look at the president’s record.
– Thousands of good manufacturing jobs have been cut and hundreds of plants closed, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
– Failed to deliver a fair trade deal with China or Mexico that would benefit workers instead of Wall Street.
– A massive corporate tax giveaway that ended up in the pockets of CEOs, but not for worker wages and benefits.
– Attacked Social Security and Medicare by proposing to cut payroll taxes, putting both programs in jeopardy.
– Eliminated health insurance for 27 million Americans, despite promising to provide healthcare for everybody.
President Trump’s record of broken promises and failed economic policies have directly affected our members. Since 2016, well before the ravages of COVID-19, more than 50 IAM-represented facilities have shut down, throwing thousands of IAM members out of work.
In almost every instance, our union sent a letter to the president asking for the White House’s assistance in saving these jobs and communities. The response? Not a word from this president.
Trump didn’t lift a finger to help us save thousands of U.S. jobs at Harley Davidson in Missouri, Electrolux in Minnesota, Siemens in Iowa or Schneider Electric in Indiana—just to name a few. His inattention and inaction speaks volumes about his real priorities. It has become clear that working people simply do not matter to this president, unless we are serving as a prop for a photo-op.
When this president took office, I said I would call balls and strikes with this administration. Between the fumbled response to coronavirus pandemic, the job loss that rivals the Great Depression and the daily rhetoric that serves only to divide working people—this president has struck out with the Machinists Union.
Our membership made that clear when the IAM held the American labor movement’s first-ever rank-and-file vote for a presidential endorsement. This March, every IAM member was given a say in who our great union endorsed for president of the United States. The result was clear—we need change in the White House.
We need a president who will build an economy that works for working people, not just those at the top. We need a country where working people have a real shot to prosper and where hard work will allow them to achieve the American Dream. For our union, that means electing Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and candidates up and down the ballot who will fight for working people, instead of offering empty rhetoric.
The IAM is mobilized at every level to turn this country around, and restore real leadership to the White House and the halls of Congress. We are rolling up our sleeves and doing the work of putting this nation back on track.
We are phone banking, knocking on doors, distributing literature and making sure that all of our members are registered to vote—and, most importantly, making sure they do vote. Together, with the labor movement united, we can win this November and end this national nightmare.
But time is of the essence. Our future and the future of our children and grandchildren depend on our action now.
Let’s get to work, Sisters and Brothers.
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