Mar 16, 2021 | iMail
In early March two Florida-based Machinist members won local elections in the Everglades area, a tight-knit agricultural region in the southern section of the state. Mayor Joe Kyles, a District 166 retiree, was reelected by voters in the City of South Bay and Joaquin Almazan, IAM Local 2152 member and legislative representative, was elected to the Belle Glade city commission. The wins also highlight the importance of IAM-offered political training classes that encourage union members to run for office and stress how legislation impacts members’ lives and communities.
“These victories by Brothers Kyles, Almazan and Thompson are together a major step forward for working men and women in South Florida,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Rickey Wallace. “The voices and concerns of organized labor will now have more seats at the legislative table in that region.”
Kyles, who became an IAM business representative in 1990, has a long history in local politics. In 2002 he was elected vice mayor of the town, which has a population of about 5,200. In 2015 he ascended to mayor.
“It feels real good to have support from the residents in the city. They feel I’m doing a wonderful job. They’re very supportive of things that I am doing in the city,” said Kyles. “They have a lot of confidence in me because I will be there for them. I’m the type of mayor that is out in the community.”
Kyles says he wants to improve lives of middle-class families, many of whom work in the local sugar and agriculture industry.
“I want to improve more infrastructure, economic sustainability, affordable housing in the area and bring more businesses,” said Kyles. “It’s about connecting with people and making sure they receive care.”
Five miles away, Local 2152 member Joaquin Almazan was elected to one of five Belle Glade commission seats with 59 percent of the vote. Almazan’s new duties include working with the city’s manager, passing agendas, voting on ordinances and fighting for grant funding in a rural farming community with a population of roughly 20,000.
“It was a solid victory. But it was also a lot of work,” said Almazan. “We asked our union brothers and sisters to support me. It helped having that family and support in the community.”
Almazan, who became an IAM member in 1989, worked his way up the union ranks in the agricultural sector. He currently serves as a community action director with the Sugar Industry Labor Management Committee, a political organization that advocates on behalf of the IAM and local sugar companies.
“Our Union Leadership School at W-3 is always advocating for us to step up. I’m proud of myself for doing it and taking an initiative to run,” said Almazan. “It was a blessing to be elected by the community and the residents. I am thrilled to be able to serve our community and improve the lives of working people in the area.”
Electoral victories by Kyles and Almazan follow a recent win by another local Machinist who resides roughly 30 minutes away in Clewiston, a small farming town with almost 8,000 residents. Greg Thompson, a 30-year IAM member from Local 57, was elected vice mayor in November.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Thompson. “In our community we needed more political representation of working families. So I thought it was important to have someone there with that perspective.”
The post South Florida Machinists Union Members Win Electoral Races, Vow to Bring Working People’s Voice to Local Politics appeared first on IAMAW.
Mar 12, 2021 | iMail
Join fellow riders and GDA supporters this June for a nearly 1,200 mile motorcycle ride from Georgia to Texas in the 2021 Kourpias K-9 Classic hosted by the IAM Southern Territory. The June 5-10, 2021 fundraiser benefits Guide Dogs of America, whose mission is to transform lives through partnerships with service dogs.
Register for the ride today.
The ride starts in Marietta, Georgia, traveling through Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas for a total of 1,157 miles. You may register to do the entire ride, or sign up to do one or more portions of the ride.
If you don’t ride a motorcycle and still want to support the 2021 Kourpias K-9 Classic, you can sponsor a person for each mile they ride, donate to your favorite rider, or simply donate to the cause.
Sponsor a rider, or donate to the cause
The fundraiser is named after former IAM International President George Kourpias, who guided the IAM through some of our union’s most challenging times with dignity and grace. He was just as passionate about raising money for Guide Dogs of America. No matter the role, George always gave everything he had, which is why this ride was created to honor his memory and contribute to one of his favorite charities.
View photos from the 2020 Kourpias K-9 Classic
In 2020, GDA completed a merger with Tender Loving Canines, and now provides hardworking service dogs for people who are blind/visually impaired, veterans, children 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.
The post Register Now for the 2021 Kourpias K-9 Classic Motorcycle Ride appeared first on IAMAW.
Mar 11, 2021 | iMail
In an historic win for working American families, the House of Representatives passed the Senate version of the American Rescue plan yesterday and President Biden signed it into law today. Machinists members from around the country have been calling their representatives over the past few weeks urging them to pass the relief package that secures the jobs of tens of thousands IAM members.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Biden, Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, Machinists Union members and millions more working Americans will play a central role in getting America back on track as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of IAM members in the airline, transit, aerospace, manufacturing and other critical industries will have their jobs saved because of the American Rescue Plan. Critically, this legislation extends the airline Payroll Support Program, which will keep tens of thousands of airline workers on the job as we distribute vaccines and begin the ramp up air travel. IAM members in the transit and aerospace supply sectors will also receive assistance that will help us keep the world moving. We look forward to President Biden swiftly signing the American Rescue Plan into law and delivering much-needed relief to our membership and working Americans.”
Here is a summary of how this plan will help IAM members and our families:
- $1,400 Direct Payments: Individuals earning up to $75,000 and couples earning up to $150,000 receive the full direct payments of $1,400 per person. Individuals will also receive an additional $1,400 payment for each dependent claimed on their tax returns. No payment will be sent to single filers earning more than $80,000 or joint filers earning more than $160,000.
- Extends $300 Weekly Supplemental Unemployment Benefits: Provides an extension of the $300 supplemental unemployment benefits that 18 million Americans currently rely through September 6, 2021 with tax forgiveness on up to $10,000 of unemployment compensation.
- Multiemployer Pensions: Includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act. This long-overdue pension relief legislation provides $86 Billion in relief to troubled multiemployer pension plans with NO CUTS to earned benefits. The legislation will protect the integrity of healthy multiemployer plans, save the PBGC and strengthen the pension system overall. The legislation contains NO provisions to harm healthy plans, does not include the GROW Act, and only has a modest increase in premiums from $31 to $52 starting in 2031.
- Airline Jobs: Provides $15 billion to extend the airline Payroll Support Program (PSP) through September 30, 2021 which will help airlines and contractors avert mass layoffs and furloughs due to the unprecedented drop in business.
- Aviation Manufacturing Workforce: The package includes the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Act which provides $3 billion to help employers keep aerospace manufacturing workers on their payrolls, avoid additional furloughs, and re-hire workers previously furloughed during the pandemic.
- Amtrak: This bill provides $1.7 billion to Amtrak to keep rail service running across the nation, to rehire 1,230 workers who have been involuntarily furloughed as a result of COVID, and to restore full long-distance service to remote communities.
- Public Transit: The package provides $30.4 billion of additional relief funding to transit agencies to prevent layoffs of transit workers and prevent severe cuts to transit services that essential workers and the general public rely on.
- 100% COBRA Subsidy: The bill subsidizes 100 percent of COBRA premiums for six months for individuals who lost employment or had reduced hours. This allows laid off workers to retain their employer provided healthcare with NO premium share.
- Paid Sick Leave: The bill provides funding for emergency paid sick leave through September 30, 2021 with a maximum benefit of $1,400 per week for workers making up to $73,000 per year.
- Federal Workforce Protections: The bill creates an emergency fund to allow paid leave for workers who are ill or who have been exposed to COVID-19. The bill also ensures federal employees who are diagnosed with COVID-19 as a result of their service can receive workers’ compensation benefits.
- Expand Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit: This bill also includes an expansion of two of the most effective anti-poverty tools the U.S. government has: The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).
- Housing: The bill extends the federal eviction and foreclosure moratorium until September 1, 2021. The bill also provides $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, $5 billion in utility assistance, and $5 billion in emergency assistance for homelessness.
- Vaccines, Testing, etc.: Provides $84 billion for COVID vaccine distribution, testing, contact tracing, PPE to frontline works, bolster public health workforce, support for community hospitals, and expansion of mental health services.
- State and Local Fiscal Aid: The bill provides $350 billion to States, territories, Tribes, and local governments to be used for responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency, to offset revenue losses, bolster economic recovery and to provide premium pay for essential workers.
- K-12 Schools: Provides over $125 billion for public K-12 schools to safely reopen schools for in-person learning, address learning loss, and support students as they work to recover from the long-term impacts of the pandemic.
- Student Loan Relief – The bill makes all COVID-19 student loan relief tax free.
- Defense Production Act for PPE: Provides $10 billion to expand domestic production of personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccines, and other medical supplies.
- Veterans: The bill provides funding to waive copays for veterans during the pandemic, and to provide health care services and support to veterans, including COVID-19 vaccine distribution, expanded mental health care, and enhanced telehealth capabilities. It also establishes a new program to provide retraining assistance for veterans who have lost their jobs due to COVID, and includes funding for VA to mitigate the pandemic’s impacts on the benefits claims and appeals backlog.
- Expanded PPP Eligibility: This bill expands Paycheck Protection Program eligibility to include additional nonprofits such as 501(c)(5) labor and agricultural organizations providing $7 billion for that purpose.
The post American Rescue Plan to Deliver Lifeline to Machinists Union Members in Critical Industries appeared first on IAMAW.
Mar 11, 2021 | iMail
The Machinists Union along with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer led the way in fighting to save troubled multiemployer pension plans while fully protecting the earned and vested benefits of current and future retirees. While the majority of multiemployer pension plans are financially sound, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) estimates that more than 100 multiemployer pension plans, covering more than a million participants, are in “critical and declining status” and will become insolvent without the ability to pay the earned benefits of current and future retirees.
The recent passage of the American Rescue Package includes the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act.
“Millions of middle-class workers, miners, truck drivers, construction workers, and food service workers invested their hard earned money into pension plans year after year after year, for financial security and peace of mind when they retire,” said Leader Schumer. “Unfortunately, those pensions are now in trouble. We owe it to these workers, who played by the rules and are counting on these funds, to shore up these pensions today. The Butch Lewis Act, led by Senator Brown, is essential to address the multiemployer pension crisis that could shatter the financial futures of millions of middle-class American families. Democrats are fighting for a solution to deliver on the promise of these pensions for workers.”
“Majority Leader Schumer is a true champion and walked this legislation over the finish line,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President Jimmy Conigliaro Sr. “Leader Schumer understands how important it is to address the multiemployer pension crisis while keeping our nation’s promise to our nation’s retirees and working families. I commend our legislative and political team for never taking their eye off the ball on this issue. This is a clear case of why elections matter.”
This legislation will work to lift troubled multiemployer plans out of their financial hole, while maintaining the financial integrity of the PBGC. Most importantly, this Act will provide a pathway to accomplishing these goals without stealing the earned benefits of retirees, workers and their families.
This long-overdue pension relief legislation provides $86 billion in relief to troubled multiemployer pension plans with NO CUTS to earned benefits. The legislation will protect the integrity of healthy multiemployer plans, save the PBGC and strengthen the pension system overall. The legislation contains NO provisions to harm healthy plan, does not include the GROW Act, and only has a modest increase in premiums from $31 to $52 starting in 2031.
The post Majority Leader Schumer, IAM Led the Fight for Pension Plan Relief appeared first on IAMAW.
