IAM-AFT Joint Healthcare Organizing Partnership Program Files for Union Election of 500 New Mexico Healthcare Professionals

May 24, 2022 | iMail

The IAM and American Federation of Teachers New Mexico (AFT NM) have filed a majority of union recognition cards with the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (NMPELRB) for almost 500 frontline healthcare workers at Sandoval Regional Medical Center.

The campaign is also unique in that it is the first campaign in New Mexico to utilize a new state law that allows for card check, or majority sign-up, and recognition for public employees.

“I am proud to be organizing together with my fellow nurses and healthcare staff to form United Health Professionals of New Mexico, the first of its kind joint union under AFT NM and the IAM in New Mexico,” said emergency room Registered Nurse Jennifer Heckwine. “Our union will not only address the work we do as healthcare professionals, but also the quality service we can provide for our patients and community. We want to thank our community and patients for their steadfast support of our campaign.”

More than a year ago, the IAM and the AFT formed a partnership to jointly organize healthcare units throughout the United States. The two unions joined together through the IAM Organizing Department and the IAM Western Territory’s efforts to establish our first “pilot” program to organize the employees at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Sandoval Regional Medical Center, which had been a target for the AFT. Together, the IAM and AFT formed the United Health Professionals of New Mexico.

“United Health Professionals of New Mexico comprise many different types of healthcare workers, including registered nurses, respiratory therapists, clinical social workers, maintenance workers, food service workers, housekeepers, registration and clerks, security personnel, and many others – which represent the workers who ensure the hospital runs smoothly and provides the best quality care possible for our patients,” said Ashley Long, IAM Local 794 President and Directing Business Representative. “We are proud of each of these workers standing together, and we are committed to supporting this new union as it continues its efforts towards recognition and eventually an initial contract. We encourage the NMPELRB to certify this union without delay.”

“I congratulate these brave frontline healthcare workers for standing up for their rights and demanding equal treatment and respect that only a union contract can provide,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Gary R. Allen. “This groundbreaking joint union will afford these workers the necessary resources to ensure they win this election and negotiate a fair and just first contract. I congratulate Local 794 President and Directing Business Representative Ashley Long and the staff at AFT for their successful partnership. The IAM Staff and the AFT staff worked diligently as well to bring us to this important juncture to provide justice on the job!”

“This successful and historic venture with two major unions is very unique in the labor movement for a long list of reasons,” said IAM Organizing Director Vinny Addeo. “After months of working together, the collaboration came to fruition with the filing of a petition through the state’s law granting card-check recognition. This is the very first test in using this law in New Mexico and the first of many successful organizing projects between the IAM and the AFT as we expand our partnership across the United States.”     

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Machinists Union Urges American Worker-focused Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with Binding and Enforceable Labor and Environmental Standards

May 24, 2022 | iMail

The IAM urges the Biden administration to shape an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, also known as IPEF, that prioritizes benefits for the American worker. This includes transparency in the negotiation process as well as enforceable labor standards.

On Monday, President Joe Biden announced the launch of the IPEF, a multi-nation trade strategy intended to solidify U.S. ties in the region. The IAM has been involved in recent discussions with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Department of Commerce, the two agencies tasked with sculpting the IPEF. 

“I thank the Biden administration for seeking input from labor unions such as the IAM as they shape the IPEF. As I told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during a meeting earlier this month, the IAM is not against trade, but we are against unfair trade policy,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr.  “We’ve seen the hardships on workers due to bad trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA. That said, we strongly encourage the IPEF to include binding and enforceable labor and environmental standards. It is not fair for our nation’s workers to be forced to go up against a competing nation that does not recognize human rights like collective bargaining or even environmental protections that could result in a company’s production facility poisoning workers and their families. We encourage IPEF to be a trade strategy that requires involved nations to match U.S. labor and environmental laws.”

Martinez has also said that trade policy should be led by USTR and the U.S. Congress, which has the expertise of lawmakers and support staff who know labor, environment, supply chain and other factors involved in fair trade policy. The proposed IPEF does not require congressional ratification.

The proposed IPEF is made up of 13 nations, including countries like Vietnam and Malaysia, which the IAM has historically raised human rights concerns with during the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the Obama administration. The TPP deal was eventually withdrawn.

“As we’ve said in past, the TPP placed corporate interests over basic human rights. The failed TPP would have promoted wage declines and outsourcing of hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, which historically fail at recognizing fundamental human rights, like the right to join a union, engage in collective bargaining and be free from discrimination, child labor and forced labor,” Martinez said.

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