IAM Advocacy Results in Major Funding for Machinists Built Programs in the 2022 NDAA

Jan 4, 2022 | iMail

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has passed and been signed into law by President Biden. The legislation totals $768 billion for national defense programs, including extensive funding for IAM-built programs.

“The Machinists Union is the largest defense labor union in the United States and we tirelessly fought for all of the Machinists Union priorities included in this bill,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “This act will go a long way to ensuring our members and their families have a stable future. The legislation will also provide much-needed wage increases for our military men and woman while expanding their healthcare benefits, parental leave and in-home child care.

Thanks to the IAM’s lobbying efforts, the 2022 NDAA authorizes funding for the following IAM- built and maintained programs:

  •  85 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters
  • 12 F-18 Super Hornets
  • 4 C-130J Super Hercules
  • 17 F-15 Eagles
  • 14 KC-46 Tankers
  • Two P-8 Poseidons
  • Three DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers
  • Two Virginia-class Attack Submarines
  • Robust funding for ramp up of Columbia-class Ballistic Submarine program

Other highlights include:

  • Renews, expands and improves oversight into domestic content in critical defense acquisition programs.
  • Supports Administration efforts to increase public availability of Department of Defense reporting on waivers of certain domestic preference requirements.
  • Establishes strong, recurring oversight mechanisms to detect and deter egregious violations of domestic preference laws.
  • Improves the legal framework to mitigate risk in critical defense supply chains and across the broader acquisition process, using leading-edge digital tools, technology, and approaches to enhance supply chain transparency.
  • Tightens restrictions on acquisitions of certain printed circuit boards for which supply chains may be susceptible to interference by the Chinese government.

 

The law also authorizes $27.8 billion for nuclear weapons activities allotted for the Department of Energy and fully funds the Department of Defense budget for the National Security Launch Program.

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A Girl, A Scholarship And A Dream

Jan 4, 2022 | iMail

As Rachel Steele prepares to earn her doctorate in 2022, she looks back on how much an IAM scholarship meant to her back in 2003. Her father, Thomas Steele, was working for Boeing that year and she was featured in the IAM Journal as one of several scholarship winners.  The younger Steele feels the timing of her PhD candidacy, her dad’s retirement and the current call for scholarship applicants is special.

She says her father ”worked tirelessly when we were growing up. He had to travel a lot, so he wasn’t always home and now as an adult, I realize how much of a sacrifice that was.”

Rachel originally wrote to IAM District 837 President and Directing Business Representative Tom Boelling, looking for a way to thank her dad in a follow-up to the 2003 edition of the IAM Journal.

“We’re so proud of Rachel and what she’s accomplished,” Boelling said. “We congratulate her on reaching the highest academic level of her educational career and congratulate her father, Thomas, on his retirement from Boeing.”

“Thank you for having the foresight for creating a scholarship,” Rachel said. 

Her advice for applicants? “Have confidence, especially if you’re a first-generation student. You deserve the recognition. It’s an amazing privilege. Be true to yourself. Tell your story in your own voice. Everyone has a story.”

“Congratulations to both Rachel on her upcoming doctorate and Thomas on his much-deserved retirement,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Steve Galloway. “The IAM has always placed a high value on education, from funding scholarships for IAM members and their families to advocating for a national investment in skills training. Rachel’s story shows how important the IAM Scholarship is to so many IAM families. Any eligible members or their children may apply for this life-changing scholarship to college or technical school.”

To apply for the 2022 IAM Scholarship Competition, your packet must be completed and postmarked by February 11, 2022.

 

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