Jan 6, 2022 | iMail
Sisters and Brothers,
One year ago, we watched as violence overtook the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop our nation’s sacred tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. Everyday citizens, first responders and elected officials were put in harm’s way. It was an image many of us never thought we would see in the United States of America.
As a U.S. Navy veteran, like so many others who served our country, it was especially disturbing to see our democracy under attack. What happened that day was an affront to everything we stand for as a nation and as a union. While we encourage passionate debate and the right to disagree with one another, violence and hate are never the answer.
We must never forget this day. We must always protect our freedom and our democracy. Let’s move forward to protect the rights of all citizens and our sacred duty to make our voices heard at the ballot box instead of through violence.
In solidarity,
Robert Martinez Jr.
International President
The post We Pledge to Protect Our Democracy appeared first on IAMAW.
Jan 6, 2022 | iMail
The 2022 IAM Calendar, featuring winners of the 2021 IAM Photo Contest, is now available for order.
To order the 2022 IAM Calendar, download an individual order form or bulk order form for Lodges that want to order large quantities of calendars. Calendars are $7 for individual orders and $5 per calendar for orders of 100 or more. Two dollars from each calendar sold are donated to the IAM’s favorite charity, Guide Dogs of America/Tender Loving Canines.
This is a great way to promote the Machinists and the work we do, as well as helping to bring independence and confidence for people who are blind/visually impaired, veterans and children with autism across North America.
View the winning photos and enter the 2022 IAM Photo Contest
The post Order Your 2022 IAM Calendar appeared first on IAMAW.
Jan 5, 2022 | LL S6 Elections, LL S6 Leadership Alerts
Below is a listing for the upcoming E02, 1st shift election for Bath/EBMF on Thursday, January 20, 2022. In the event the election cannot be held on the stated date, the alternate date will be the 1st workday after the cancellation (or the Shipyard re-opens) at the same time and places listed below.
Bath: North Gate, West Gate and South Gate 6:30 a.m. – 6:55 a.m.
MSC Lunchroom 11:30 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.
EBMF Toolcrib 6:30 a.m. – 6:55 a.m.
Candidates are listed alphabetically:
Angela McCarren
Harold Richards IV
John Sevey
*Vote for 1 Steward*
Jan 4, 2022 | iMail
Architectural workers at SHoP in New York City have requested voluntary employer recognition of their union with IAM District 15.
The Union Organizing Committee at SHoP and the IAM recently sent a letter to SHoP partners requesting voluntary recognition. In addition, the union and the organizing committee asked to meet in person with SHoP partners to start a conversation around the challenges facing the architectural profession and how they can work together to begin making positive structural changes. The Union Organizing Committee at SHoP is motivated by a deep care for the SHoP firm and architecture as a profession.
READ: Architects Are the Latest White-Collar Workers to Confront Bosses The New York Times
“Many of us feel pushed to the limits of our productivity and mental health,” reads the letter. “These conditions have become detrimental to our lives and in extension the lives of our families. These concerns are the product of larger systemic issues within the discipline of architecture and are in no way unique to SHoP. From the moment we begin studying architecture, we are taught that great design requires endless time and effort, and in turn demands the sacrifice of personal health and relationships. We are taught that architecture is a greater calling and regardless of how the client is willing to compensate us, we will perform our duty because it is critically important for the greater good.”
The Union Organizing Committee at SHoP is asking SHoP partners to remain neutral and formally recognize the union.
This will be the first union of private sector architecture workers in the United States since the 1940s.
Architectural Workers United is the campaign moniker under which a group of New York City based architectural workers from multiple firms (including SHoP) are attempting to organize unions. The campaign’s goal is to raise industry standards through collective bargaining rights, sector wide union density and political action.
The post New York City Architectural Workers Move to Join IAM appeared first on IAMAW.
Jan 4, 2022 | iMail
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2021 – The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 28 ruled that is permitting the Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) to intervene as a plaintiff in a case against the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The closure of a large area of prime lobstering territory is having a hugely negative impact on Maine lobstering communities. The MLU won injunctive relief to stop the closure on Oct. 16, but a federal appeals court overturned the decision on Nov. 16, closing off about 967 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean to lobster fishing for a third of the year. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case.
“This matter is the second case to which the MLU is a party in the District of Columbia involving lobster regulations intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale, with the MLU already having intervened as a defendant in a case brought by conservation groups challenging NMFS’s 2021 Biological Opinion,” said Alfred C. Frawley IV, lead attorney representing the MLU. “As an intervener in both cases, the MLU will seek a ruling that NMFS’s biological opinion and recent regulations are arbitrary and capricious in that they do not rely on the best scientific evidence available, but instead rely upon assumptions that have no basis in reality.”
The MLU also remains an active intervener in CBD v. Ross, a case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“The Maine Lobstering Union will continue to use every resource at our disposal to protect both the Maine lobstering community and the environment, which we have been stewards of for generations,” said the MLU’s Virginia Olsen. “We simply ask that decisions that impact the livelihoods of countless communities be grounded in science. Our resolve is steadfast to protect this world-renowned industry and the men and women who depend on it.”
The Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) is an affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) District 4 and the only union-based cooperative in the lobster industry owned and operated by Maine lobstermen. The MLU supports Maine’s lobster community and is committed to the sustainability and safety of Maine’s lobstermen and women and all wildlife that occupy and rely upon the fishery.
The post Maine Lobstering Union Granted Intervener Status to Protect Fishermen appeared first on IAMAW.
