Jul 13, 2021 | iMail
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) will be holding their 50th International Convention from August 25-29, 2021. Originally slated to be held in Chicago, the convention will be held virtually with the host Chicago chapter.
Register today.
The theme for this convention is “Remembering Our Past, Embracing Our Present, While Shaping Our Future.” Join other CBTU members for the Town Hall with Black International Presidents, a conversation with Secretary-Treasurers and videos clips and highlights from past conventions.
CBTU consists of many IAM members including IAM National Political and Legislative Director Hasan Solomon, who serves on the CBTU Executive Council.
Visit the CBTU conference website to register or review all convention related material.
The post Register for CBTU’s 50th Convention Aug. 25-29 appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 13, 2021 | iMail
The IAM William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center (W3 Center) in Hollywood, MD, will open its doors to participants on August 1, resuming in-person programs for the first time since March 2020.
Click here for the 2021 Winpisinger Center Program calendar.
“We cannot wait to welcome the membership back to their facility,” said Winpisinger Center Director Chris Wagoner. “Our instructors and members quickly and successfully adapted to an online learning environment, but there’s nothing like face-to-face worker education to build and strengthen relationships among our participants. These experiences foster a lifelong investment in learning, build solidarity, and help sustain collective action efforts among members, officers, activists and staff.”
“Education has always been essential to the mission of the Machinists Union, and no facility does it better than the William W. Winpisinger Center,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Health and safety is our priority in reopening, and we will go above and beyond to ensure a safe learning environment for participants and staff. We are excited to welcome members back to the Winpisinger Center.”
Because the safety of member participants and staff is of the utmost importance, the W3 Center will return with a phased reopening schedule and a strict set of protocols and procedures. The W3 Center will continuously reassess all safety measures in accordance with CDC, state and local guidelines—and where appropriate, make necessary changes.
- All participants are required to provide proof of vaccination prior to purchase of travel to attend class.
- All participants will be required to mask and socially distance while at the W3 Center.
- All W3 Center employees are fully vaccinated.
- Leadership programs are limited to 50 percent enrollment.
- Guest rooms will not exceed 50 percent capacity. Each will be cleaned and sanitized daily and will not be occupied for one week after use.
- Classrooms and dining room will be cleaned and sanitized throughout each day, and set up to allow for social distancing.
- Participants will not be allowed to bring guests at this time.
- The W3 Center will carefully and fully follow CDC recommendations and fully comply with State of Maryland laws and the St. Mary’s County Department of Health guidelines.
Registration is open for leadership and staff programs, and the calendar is now available online.
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Jul 8, 2021 | iMail
Machinists Union members working at Cascades Containerboard in Niagara Falls, NY got the backing of two political heavy-hitters this week when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) called on Canada-based Cascades, Inc. to negotiate in good faith and reach a first contract with the union negotiating committee.
The group of more than 100 workers voted to join the Machinists Union in April 2019, and have been attempting to bargain for a fair contract for more than two years.
“We write to urge Cascades management to return to the table and negotiate in good faith with representatives from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) on a new labor contract at the Niagara Falls containerboard plant,” write Schumer and Gillibrand. “We have long believed that our economy functions most effectively and fairly when there is a good faith bargaining and contracts between labor and management.”
Read the entire letter from Schumer and Gillibrand to Cascades, Inc. President and CEO Mario Plourde.
Members recently rallied to call for a first contract. It has now been more than two years since the National Labor Relations Board certified Cascades workers’ vote to join the IAM in June 2019. It is highly unusual for companies to delay bargaining to this extent after workers organize with the IAM.
“I appreciate Leader Schumer and Senator Gillibrand stepping up to shine a light on the unfair treatment of our members from Cascades Containerboard management,” said IAM District 65 Directing Business Representative Ron Warner. “Our members work hard to make this company profitable, and all they want in return is a voice on the job. It feels good to see our senators fighting to make life better for our members at Cascades. The Machinists Union won’t stop until we get a first contract.”
READ: Gillibrand, Schumer call on Cascades, Inc. to negotiate with union Spectrum News 1 Buffalo
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) also wrote to Cascades President Charles Malo, urging the company to “negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement expeditiously.”
Working conditions at the facility are key issues for Cascades employees. Cascades hired a notorious union-busting law firm to thwart the organizing campaign and hired another firm after the campaign to stall negotiations.
“The Machinists Union will continue to mobilize to help our brothers and sisters at Cascades secure a first contract,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President Brian Bryant. “It is shameful that after voting to join the IAM over two years ago, our members still can’t get a first contract. The National Labor Relations Act is broken, and this is why the IAM is urging the United States Senate to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. If the PRO Act were in place today, our members would have the ability to settle impasses like the current one at Cascades. Our members at Cascades deserve fair treatment and basic respect and dignity at work.”
The post Leader Schumer, Sen. Gillibrand Push for a First Contract for Machinists Union at Cascades Containerboard appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 8, 2021 | iMail
On July 1, IAM District 77 joined a coalition of unions and workers at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in a press conference commemorating the airport’s minimum wage increase to $14.25 an hour. The raise is the second of three that will bring thousands of workers from $11 an hour in October 2020 to $15 an hour in July 2022. The IAM was the first union in Minnesota to support the fight for better wages at MSP.
“When we started this campaign, people thought we were crazy to demand those kind of wages, but through solidarity and collective action we not only moved the needle of public opinion, but here we are today celebrating yet again another big raise,” said IAM District 77 Directing Business Representative John Steigauf.
Airport workers from SEIU Local 26, UNITE-HERE Local 17 and Teamsters Local 120 also spoke about how the raises make a drastic difference in their ability to provide for their families and feel dignity in their work.
“The Machinists Union was again at the forefront of the fight to better workers’ lives,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Steve Galloway. “I commend District 77 for helping to achieve this historic win for airport workers in Minneapolis. The IAM will continue to lead the labor movement in its quest to better the livelihoods of all workers.”
Kip Hedges, a Delta baggage handler and leader of an organizing effort to join the Machinists Union, was fired in late 2014 for speaking out about the plight of low wage workers at the airport. Hedges, Richard Ryan, who was then Assistant Directing Business Representative, and many other local Machinists worked together to pass resolutions through the Minnesota State Council of Machinists, the Minnesota AFL-CIO Convention and dozens of other unions.
Initially, the resolutions only pertained to wages at MSP, but activists quickly built momentum to win support for a $15 an hour minimum wage for all workers in Minnesota.
“Our union is proud to have supported this essential fight with our pocketbooks and by putting our feet on the street,” added Steigauf. “They call us the Fighting Machinists and we won’t stop fighting until every worker has a living wage, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or how we pray.”
The post IAM Activism Pays Off with Minimum Wage Increase at Minneapolis Airport appeared first on IAMAW.
Jul 8, 2021 | iMail
Months after progressive state lawmakers in Texas staged a mass walkout to protest voter suppression legislation introduced by radical-right politicians, the labor movement, including the Machinists Union and the Texas AFL-CIO, are mobilizing around the state in a bid to beat back another conservative plot to pass the controversial bill.
“Voting and freedom are sacred pillars of our republic and they’re crucial to upholding democracy,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Any attempt to thwart those rights must be strongly opposed by the hard working middle-class families of Texas. If it’s voting rights today, then it will be anti-worker laws tomorrow.”
The legislation, now known during a special legislative session as Senate Bill 1, would end drive-through and 24-hour voting, as well as add draconian voter ID requirements. The bill would give more rein to partisan poll watchers and allow officials to scour state records in an elaborate and unjustified search for non-citizen voters.
But Machinists Union members in Texas and nationally have pledged to work with the state’s AFL-CIO to educate union households, lobby lawmakers and build political momentum aimed at stopping SB 1.
“The fight against voter suppression and to preserve our democracy is a union fight, and we are proud to stand in solidarity with IAM on this issue,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy. “The commitment of President Martinez and the IAM to do whatever it takes to protect our right to vote makes the entire labor movement proud. As we organize our opposition, IAM leadership is making a real difference.”
Conservative Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing for passage of SB 1 during a special legislative session that began on Thursday, July 8. Hearings on the bill will begin Saturday, July 10.
The post IAM, Allies Fighting Against Dangerous Voter Suppression Effort in Texas appeared first on IAMAW.
