Dear Machinists Union Members, Families and Friends,
Our union has a great record of achievement this year, and you can take pride in knowing it is because of your hard work and dedication. Machinists are true fighters, and I am humbled whenever I visit our members to see what you do each and every day.
The pages of this IAM Journal include just some of your stories. You will meet an IAM woodworker who helped the son of one of our members find a career in timber following his father’s death. We will see what community service means for IAM volunteers in Washington state and Minnesota. We will see how the IAM helps members deal with job loss in Texas and how a Pennsylvania IAM district creatively gets our union exposure on the race track.
We will learn how the entire world watched as IAM members led the charge to soundly beat down right-to-work in Missouri, and get a look at our ongoing campaign to organize tens of thousands of members at Delta Air Lines.
Growing our union is the key to our future, and I am proud to report that 2018 has been the IAM’s best organizing year in decades. One success is a group of 180 brave Flight Line Technicians at Boeing South Carolina, a place many said we could never organize. We also welcomed 2,400 healthcare workers in Canada, who just signed their first collective bargaining agreement. I am incredibly proud of our growth across North America.
We have taken steps to become bigger, stronger, louder and more influential. We also replaced our old organizing strategy with a new one that gives us more flexibility. All of these victories are because of your input and support.
You have my word that the IAM Executive Council will continue to listen to you and do what it takes to make our union even stronger. I hope you enjoy this edition of the IAM Journal and I wish you and your family a happy and healthy closing to the year.
Sincerely,
Bob Martinez
International President
Share and Follow:
