International President Robert Martinez, Jr. announced the appointment of Grand Lodge Representative Craig Hughes to the position of Automotive Coordinator. The appointment is effective May 1, 2023.

IAM Automotive provides the resources required to meet the growing challenges of rapidly changing and evolving industries. With more than 35,000 members, the IAMAW has a significant presence in the Automotive Sector. This sector represents multiple industries, including generators and power systems, buses, trucking, vehicle delivery services, auto, truck, vehicle repair, and dealerships. IAM Automotive is also laser-focused on the birth of new technologies and fuels, ensuring IAM members continue to set the standard of excellence and craftsmanship of their respective industries.

“Brother Hughes knows what it takes to stand up for our membership,” said Martinez. “The members of the Automotive Department will benefit greatly from the wealth of knowledge and experience he brings. He understands the challenges and opportunities facing the automotive industry.”

Hughes initiated into Boston Local 264 in 1992 as a Mechanic with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). He became active in the IAM and was elected as a Shop Steward in 1999, and went on to be elected as the Chief Steward in 2005. Along the way, Hughes also served on the Negotiation Committee, District 15 Delegate, and as the President of the New England Conference of Machinists President. In 2011, Hughes was elected to the full time staff position as Local 264 Secretary-Treasurer/Organizer, until he was appointed District 15 Business Representative in 2016.

Hughes was assigned as a Special Representative in March 2017, then progressed to a Grand Lodge Representative until his appointment as International Automotive Coordinator in May 2023.

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There’s no doubt that for most airline employees, the freedom and flexibility that our travel benefits provide is a key reason why we chose this line of work. In recent years, as airlines enjoy record load factors (and profits), traveling space-available has become more of a challenge, but with a little bit of planning and luck, it is something we all enjoy. We appreciate the freedom and flexibility to stay in touch with family and friends while we explore the world. Pass travel is priceless and priceless it should stay.

Pass travel programs allow employees to enjoy the products that we create, but they are still the company’s property. When an employee brokers the passes or treats them as personal assets, those actions can get them fired, or even arrested. IAM Committees are very good at preventing unjust terminations, and hundreds of members have been successfully defended against being unfairly fired. These good outcomes, however, do not come to members involved in theft or fraud.

Repeated violations of pass travel programs by employees can prompt the airline to restrict or limit them for everyone.

In summary, messing with your pass privileges is a bad move, so don’t be greedy. As tempting as it may seem to try to monetize this perk, don’t do it. The enhanced travel privileges we enjoy that allow us to choose our traveling companions can be changed at the airlines’ discretion, with notification to the union being the only requirement. You do not have to marry your traveling companion anymore, like the t-shirt says, but be cautious. And know who your buddies are.

Contact an EAP Representative if you have problems handling finances or family life. IAM District 141 EAP Staff and Volunteer EAP Coordinators can help you with resources in the community to address your situation and develop a plan of action to meet your needs. Find more information at https://iam141.org/eap/

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This months issue addresses anxiety and stress during the holiday, and coping with grief through the holiday season. Additionally, the dates for all EAP classes are on the calendar. Please get with your local lodge secretary/treasurer or president to sign up for classes now. The classes will fill up quickly and I want all of you to be able to get into the class you want. Let me know if you have questions about the enrollment process.

This has been quite a year! Thanks to all of you, our members have received great care and compassion to help them through some difficult times. I am very grateful to each one of you for the care and compassion you have given!

I hope the Holiday season is all that you want it to be –

Bryan

Bryan Hutchinson, M.S.

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This month we focus on securing financial accounts and some tips for safe shopping online. There are some excellent tips for readers.

It his with a sorrowful heart that I must inform those of you who don’t already know that Rich Pascarella, IAM141 AGC, passed away recently. Rich was an ardent supporter of the EAP and had completed EAP I-III. Rich championed EAP with the membership every chance he had. He will be missed tremendously. Please keep Rich’s family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Bryan

Bryan Hutchinson, M.S.

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IAM members at Office Remedies, Inc. in Atlanta, a contractor for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hold a rally outside the Sam Nunn Federal Building. The company has refused to bargain in good faith.

The important information we have on the economy—data on unemployment, wages, unions and more—doesn’t just appear out of thin air. Men and women at the Bureau of Labor Statistics are taking surveys, asking the questions that need to be asked so we always have a snapshot view of our economic health.

In Atlanta, 81 such data collection workers for a BLS contractor, Office Remedies Inc., overwhelmingly voted to organize with the IAM in October 2015.

IAM Local 709 member Nina Garner made the trip from Marietta to join the action. “I came out today to lend my support to try to get this contract rectified, to get the people what they deserve,” said Garner.

“It’s a great set of employees,” says Shop Steward Barbara Gaskins. “Not good. Great.”

They overcame a nasty anti-union drive to join the IAM, and now the BLS contractor is refusing to bargain in good faith. Instead of meeting during work hours, a nearly universal practice, ORI is demanding to only meet at night or on weekends, when many bargaining committee members have family obligations. The IAM would pay for the employee’s lost time.

When ORI does meet with their employees, they engage in what’s called “surface bargaining.”

“They offer a tiny raise, but then demand the workers give up vacation time to pay for it,” said Billy Barnwell, District 131 Directing Business Representative.

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an agency of the Department of Labor,” continued Barnwell. “We fail to understand why a government contractor would fight an anti-union campaign against their employees.”

ORI has even hired a notorious anti-union law firm, Jackson Lewis, to stonewall its employees at the bargaining table.

“As a union steward and as a bargaining committee, we have done everything we possibly know how to do,” said Gaskins. “It has been rough from the very moment we decided to unionize.”

When ORI workers, who were joined by members of IAM Local 709 in Marietta and the Georgia AFL-CIO, recently decided to take their grievances public with an action outside Atlanta’s Sam Nunn Federal Building, the company called Homeland Security to shut it down. DHS officers refused to stop the protest.

“The company doesn’t feel that we’re worth any more money than we’re already getting,” said IAM member and ORI employee Jamarr Mullen. “They actually feel that we’re overpaid already for the work we’re doing, which is not the case.”

“We just want to remain middle class employees,” said Gaskins.

IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Mark Blondin says ORI workers have the full support of the Machinists Union.

“We’re so proud of our members at ORI,” said Blondin. “When the company tried their intimidation tactics, they didn’t get scared, they got mad and they got stronger, standing together. We tried to negotiate and work with the company for a fair and equitable contract, but it’s now clear the company isn’t interested in coming to a fair agreement. This company will find out they don’t call us the Fighting Machinists for nothing. We will stand and fight, and use everything at our disposal to win the day, so the working families of ORI will be treated with dignity and respect. We are just getting started.”

The IAM has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

To lend your support and stay up-to-date with the fight, like the Go IAM ORI Atlanta Facebook page.

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IAM Local 376 member Bob Blasi cutting down timber while working on a forest wildfire.

Bill Blasi and Ron Pevny have never met, but both men have something admirable in common. They have spent their careers risking their lives fighting wildfires across the United States and they both serve as union stewards for NFFE-IAM.

Blasi grew up a self-proclaimed “city boy” in Boston, but when he made his first trip to the Northwest and saw the mountains, he knew he wanted to live the outdoor life. He always felt a strong desire to serve his country and firefighting gave him that opportunity. He remembers being away from home for up 60 straight days early in his career as a hotshot crewmember.

IAM Local 1781 Steward Ron Pevny has been fighting fires for 16 years and has worked all over the county.

“You have to be committed,” said Blasi. “It’s hard work, and you can be sent any place at any time.”

“I think I’ve wanted to be a firefighter ever since I was a kid, and it had to do with watching that old TV show ‘Emergency’ with the paramedics,” said Pevny, a Local 1781 steward. “I knew deep down inside that I wanted a job helping people. Firefighting has provided me the chance to do that and feel good about myself.”

Both men have spent countless hundreds of hours alone with a shovel or a Pulaski but stress the importance of coordination and teamwork. When a wildfire breaks out, a fire camp larger than any nearby city might emerge to mobilize and accommodate the needs of 2,000 firefighters or more within 24 hours. When on a fire line, an individual’s capabilities, and limitations, will potentially affect the work and safety of dozens of other men and women fighting the same blaze. They must have confidence in one another.

“Wildland fire fighting is equivalent to war in essence,” said Pevny. “There is a very large theatre of operation. We’re fighting a fire in its own domain.”

“There are a lot ways this can kill you,” said Blasi. “Don’t ever assume that you can control a fire. You have to respect it, never think you can control it.”

Seasonal federal firefighters work when wildfires are most prevalent, usually from April through October, and must plan for the months without any guaranteed income.

“You have to collect your acorns in the summer and save them for winter,” said Blasi. “It’s not unusual to collect 1,000 hours of overtime working 16 hour days in one season.”

At 41, Ron Pevny has been fighting fires for 16 years and has worked all over the country, including on engine, hotshot and helicopter rappelling crews. He’s also spent time patrolling with a swamp buggy in the Florida Everglades. He now works full time as a patrol firefighter and forest protection officer in the Lake Tahoe basin in California and Nevada. As a steward for Local 1781, he also speaks to new hires about the NFFE-IAM contract at regional orientation sessions.

At 57, Bob Blasi has put down his shovel and works as a fire prevention specialist for the forest service and continues his union service as a steward for Local 376, near Flagstaff, AZ.

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A building formerly used by IAM District W2 to organize Service Contract workers at Red River Army Depot near Texarkana, TX is now being used by NFFE-IAM Local 2189 to organize more depot workers. From Left to Right: – IAM Organizer Joe Cicala, NFFE LL 2189 Vice President Jerry McCarty, NFFE LL 2189 President Shane Connell, NFFE LL 2189 1st Vice President Christian Casteel, IAM Organizer Juan Eldridge and NFFE Business Representative Gary Johanson.

The IAM and its sister union, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), are embarking on an ambitious campaign grow worker power at Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, TX.

“Collectively as a group, as one, we can pack a powerful punch,” says Chris Casteel, first vice president of NFFE-IAM Local 2189.

Most civilian workers at the Texarkana, TX-area depot, which maintains and repairs military vehicles such as MRAPs and Humvees, are represented by NFFE-IAM Local 2189 or IAM Local 1243, the latter of which represents Service Contract Act workers.

“We build them as if our lives depend on it,” says Casteel, “because the war fighters’ lives do. The goal is to get the solider back home to his or her family.”

But there are more than 500 federal employees at the depot’s distribution center who belong to an independent union.

Many of those distribution center workers have recently approached NFFE-IAM members on base about becoming NFFE-IAM members themselves. Casteel says the distribution center workers caught notice of the IAM’s industry-wide reputation for fighting for its members, access to the Winpisinger Education and Technology Center and considerable lobbying presence on Capitol Hill.

“They want fair representation and they want a voice,” says Casteel.

NFFE Local 2189 picked up the lease to a nearby office building that was used to successfully organize Red River Service Contract workers into the IAM. They’re using the building to work alongside the IAM to organize the federal workers at the distribution center.

“NFFE and the IAM are working together on this big campaign. It’s groundbreaking,” says IAM Organizer Joe Cicala.

The IAM won an organizing campaign at Red River in October 2014 to represent 1,000 mechanics, technicians and maintenance personnel employed by URS. In October 2015, XOtech, a contractor that represents more than 150 vehicle mechanics at the depot, voluntarily recognized the IAM as the exclusive bargaining agent of their depot employees.

In June, the IAM’s bargaining strength resulted in an agreement that preserved quality health insurance for the depot’s former URS employees, who now work for a different contractor.

“The employees at the diagnostic facility are tired of their union leadership being too close with management and feel as if they have no representation,” said IAM Organizer Juan Eldridge. “We are looking forward to showing them the difference of NFFE-IAM representation and why we are 650,000 strong and growing.”

“Our brothers and sisters from NFFE Local 2189 were instrumental in assisting us in organizing the Service Contract workers at Red River, and we’ll do everything we can to assist them in making sure all the civilian workers at Red River are under a strong NFFE or IAM contract,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Mark Blondin.

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From left, Housing and Urban Development Department Deputy Secretary Nani Coloretti and Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairman Carol Waller Pope present NFFE-IAM National Vice President Elizabeth McDargh with an award recognizing their greatly improvement labor-management relations. McDargh received the award on behalf of NFFE-IAM Local 1450 Vice President Charron Alfonso.

After years of strife between management and employees, NFFE-IAM members at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took matters into their own hands to create a better work environment, save taxpayers money and deliver a better service.

With the help of HUD, local leadership chartered a Labor Management Forum (LMF) to help discuss and work through issues. Under the leadership of NFFE-IAM Local 1450 Vice President Charron Alfonso and HUD Deputy Secretary Nani Coloretti, both sides were able to not only make for a more amicable working relationship, but help streamline work at HUD to make it more efficient and improve services.

The relationship mending between NFFE-IAM and HUD hasn’t gone unnoticed. The pair recently received the 2016 Margery Gootnick Labor-Management Cooperation Award for most improved relationship between the two. Alfonso and Coloretti were both honored for their efforts to improve conditions for workers, managers and clients.

“This is proof that unions are a positive force for not only the employees they represent, but also the people who receive HUD’s services,” said IAM International President Bob Martinez. “I’m proud of this group and the work they’ve done to improve their workplace and the services they provide.”

The gains for all those involved have been apparent and tangible. Both sides were able to reduce the number of disagreements settled by a third party mediator or arbitrator from eight to 10 a year to just one to two a year since the forum was formed. Having input in the process has saved a significant amount of resources for HUD and Local 1450.

“The successes that FL 1450 has had with their Labor-Management Forum demonstrates why it is important to give workers a voice in addressing workplace issues,” said NFFE-IAM National President Bill Dougan. “Our members are the best source of knowledge for how to improve the workplace, because they are there every day performing the work. Labor-Management Forums are a good tool to help tap into the experience and expertise that workers bring to their jobs.”

In an adversarial relationship, trust and cooperation isn’t gained quick or easily, so to overcome those trust barriers, the LMF set up a website to show transparency and posted the minutes of all their meetings for union members and managers alike to see what was being discussed.

NFFE-IAM members working for HUD are the front lines of homelessness, low and middle income home ownership, economic development, public housing, housing vouchers, ensuring fair lending and making sure FHA insured loans are legitimate.

“When front line employees have a better environment, they can focus on the client, rather than worry about workplace issues,” said NFFE-IAM Local 1450 President Elizabeth McDargh. “When we alleviate internal barriers, our members are free to put their heart and soul into the clients.”

Shortly after receiving the cooperation award, the top HUD representative stepped down from the LMF, potentially reducing the effectiveness.

“We can only hope the Labor Employee Relations Manager has a chance to see what we have been able to accomplish here, and see the value in what the forum has brought to HUD, our clients and the taxpayers in this country,” said McDargh.

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Owen E. Herrnstadt, Esq. Chief of Staff to the International President

Owen E. Herrnstadt came to the IAM in 1987, serving as the Associate General Counsel. In 1996, he was named Director for the IAM’s Department of Trade and Globalization. In 2014 he was named as Chief of Staff to the International President.

In addition to his many responsibilities as Chief of Staff to the IP, Herrnstadt represents IAM members’ interests in the growing global economy. He works closely with IAM District and Local Lodges to utilize the levers of global institutions and agreements and, of course, coordinates with our fellow unions in other countries. He serves as the North American representative to the International Transport Workers’ Federation Civil Aviation Section and on the Executive Committee of IndustriALL. He also serves on the Board of the International Labor Rights Forum and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is on the State Department’s Advisory Committee for International Economic Policy and the Federal Advisory Committee for the U.S. Export-Import Bank. He was named co-chair of the State Department’s Stakeholder Advisory Board on the OECD Multinational Guidelines. Herrnstadt has made presentations on numerous topics including corporate social responsibility, European Works Councils, working time, challenges of the global economy, U.S. labor law and international transportation matters.

His latest articles, “Strengthening the Collective Bargaining Rights of Precarious Workers” and “Corporate Social Responsibility, International Framework Agreements and Changing Corporate Behavior in the Global Workplace”, were issued this summer in the International Journal of Labor Research and the American University’s Employment and Labor Law Forum.

More Published Work by Owen Herrnstadt:

“Labor Rights, Manufacturing, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership“, Economic Policy Institute, Sept. 3, 2013

“U.S. Export-Import Bank: No Rewards for Shipping Jobs Overseas“, Economic Policy Institute, March 21, 2013

“Corporate Social Responsibility, International Framework Agreements and Changing Corporate Behavior in the Global Workplace” American University Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews, Vol.3 (2013) Iss. 2

“Offsets and the lack of a comprehensive U.S. policy: What do other countries know that we don’t?“ Economic Policy Institute, April 17, 2008

“Institutions That Support U.S. Jobs Shoulde Be Strengthened, Not Gutted“ Economic Policy Institute, By Robert E. Scott and Owen E. Herrnstadt, March 28, 2012

“Green Jobs, With Strings Attached“, Economic Policy Institute, Dec. 2, 2009

“Buy American and the Recovery Program: Now What?“, Economic Policy Institute, March 13, 2009

“Are International Framework Agreements a Path to Corporate Social Responsibility?“, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Fall 2007

“Meeting the Free Trade Challenge: Metalworkers and Regional Economic Integration in the Americas“, Labor and Employment Relations Association, Perspectives on Work, pp. 31-33, Summer 2006

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