Dear IAM Family,

The IAM has been closely following the increasing likelihood of a government shutdown beginning Friday, Oct. 1, 2023, which would affect tens of thousands of IAM federal employees and federal contract workers, as well as countless others. Unfortunately, a faction of right-wing extremists in Congress are again demanding draconian spending cuts and a variety of poison pill policy riders, and threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get their way.

The IAM and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) have been in consistent contact with congressional leadership urging Congress to quickly pass a Continuing Resolution to avoid a shutdown. We have been reminding them that many federal employees and federal contract workers live paycheck to paycheck and that a shutdown for any length of time is devasting to our members and their families.

TAKE ACTION: Send an online message to your lawmakers and urge them to fund the government now.

As a reminder, the IAM and NFFE-IAM worked hard to champion the successful passage of the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which ensures that all furloughed federal employees during a funding lapse receive their pay retroactively upon the government reopening. This law was a great victory, but does little to bring financial relief to workers during a shutdown.

Government shutdowns are even more destructive for our federal contract worker membership, who work alongside federal employees and perform equally essential work for our nation and often do not get any backpay at all. An IAM local lodge president recently wrote an op-ed on the profound impact that government shutdowns have on federal contract workers.

As a further reminder, the IAM worked with allies in Congress to push for the passage of the Fairness for Federal Contractors Act, which would have provided some level of lost wages to federal contract workers. Unfortunately, partisan gridlock prevented the legislation from passing. The IAM is working with allies in Congress to renew this push, should a government shutdown occur.

In addition to preparing personal finances to cover bills and other expenses during a shutdown, the IAM and NFFE-IAM recommend the following steps to stay safe at work and stay in touch if forced into a furlough:

1. Report to work as usual unless your agency or employer informs you in writing that you are officially furloughed. Otherwise, you risk an unexcused absence if you are not furloughed.
2. Sign up to receive emails using your personal email from the IAM here and NFFE-IAM here.

Additional resources from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Unemployment Insurance Q&A, Shutdown Guide, OPM 2019 Shutdown Guidance, Shutdown FAQ. 

The post A Message to IAM Federal Employees and Federal Contract Workers Regarding a Possible Government Shutdown appeared first on IAMAW.

The Senate may vote as soon as TODAY on voting rights. People have died for democracy and the right to vote. So, it’s our duty to tell Senators to sideline the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The right to vote for who we want to represent us is the foundational cornerstone of our democracy. Our ability to cast our ballot each Election Day is fundamental to our system of government. Yet, in 2021, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting access to voting. American democracy is under attack.

Congress has stopped bad election laws before, and they can do it again, if they can get out of their own way.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your U.S. Senators to Sideline the Filibuster and Protect Our Voting Rights.

Tell them who you are, where you are from, and urge them to end the filibuster and support the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The U.S. Senate is considering the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would:

• Require early voting in all fifty states
• Create a national standard for mail voting
• Give Americans a public holiday to vote
• Establish clear federal redistricting standards to stop gerrymandered districts
• Create automatic voter registrations

“The right to vote is a sacred pillar in our nation’s democracy and is so critically important to the very fabric of what defines the United States of America,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. in a letter to U.S. Senators. “Unfortunately, a steady stream of state lawmakers are threatening our nation’s democracy by enacting measures with the goal of thwarting millions from reaching the ballot box. That’s why the U.S. Congress must act with urgency. Passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act will restore the voting rights to protect the democracy of this great nation.”

Each member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council signed a letter calling on the Senate to reform the filibuster and pass critical voting rights legislation.

The post The Time is Now: Tell Your U.S. Senators to Protect Our Voting Rights appeared first on IAMAW.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act week of action has begun and IAM members need to keep the pressure up by telling your Senators to pass this long overdue bill. This crucial legislation will grant workers the right to freely form a union without the threat of company intimidation or interference.

Take Action: Tell your Senators to enact the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. 

The PRO Act will make it easier for working people to bargain together and win good contracts because it will:

• Empower workers to exercise our freedom to organize and bargain. 
• Repeal “right to work” laws.
• Ensure that workers can reach a first contract quickly after a union is recognized.
• End employers’ practice of punishing striking workers by hiring permanent replacements. Speaking up for labor rights is within every worker’s rights—and workers shouldn’t lose our jobs for it.
• Hold corporations accountable by strengthening the National Labor Relations Board and allowing it to penalize employers who retaliate against working people in support of the union or collective bargaining.
• Create pathways for workers to form unions, without fear, in newer industries like Big Tech.

IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. today wrote a letter to the Senate urging them to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. 

“The PRO Act is a crucial piece of bold legislation that modernizes our federal labor law and establishes a process for mediation and arbitration to help the parties achieve a first contract,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “It protects workers’ right to organize a union and bargain for higher wages and better benefits.”

There are PRO Act events planned this week across the country. If you’d like to participate, please click here to find an event near you.

The post We Need Your Help to Pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act appeared first on IAMAW.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) is inviting fellow members of Congress to join him in calling on Delta Air Lines to immediately cease their anti-union campaign that has been extensively reported on in recent weeks. As Delta’s Flight Attendants and Fleet Service Workers decide whether to form a union with the IAM, Delta has engaged in an outrageous series of dissuasion techniques, including hiring a consultant to manage an anti-union website and distributing offensive flyers in employee spaces.

The IAM recently filed election interference charges against Delta Air Lines with the National Mediation Board (NMB), while numerous politicians publicly supported the Flight Attendant and Fleet Service campaigns.

The IAM has overwhelming evidence that Delta Air Lines has interfered with the Flight Attendants and Fleet Service Workers’ lawful right to seek a vote for union representation free from interference, influence or coercion exercised by the carrier.

CALL NOW: Tell your Representative to sign on to the “Delta Air Lines stop the anti-union campaign” letter.

The post Tell Congress: Call on Delta Air Lines to Stop Their Anti-Union Campaign appeared first on IAMAW.

The House GOP have released a bad and unpopular plan to slash taxes for the rich by cutting services and tax breaks for working families. IAM and the rest of the labor movement will fight every attempt to make working people for tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires. Here are eight ways the Republican tax bill would hurt working people:

1. The GOP tax bill is a job killer.  It would give huge tax cuts to big corporations that outsource jobs.  The U.S. tax rate on most offshore profits would be reduced to zero, giving corporations more incentive to move jobs offshore.
2. The GOP tax bill favors corporations and millionaires over working people.  Households making between $20,000 and $40,000 per year would ultimately pay more in taxes, while 45% of the tax benefits would go to those making more than $500,000.
3. Republicans want to (partially) pay for tax cuts with drastic cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and education. The GOP budget includes $5 trillion in budget cuts, including $1.5 trillion from Medicaid and Medicare; increases the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67; and ends Medicare’s guarantee of health coverage.
4. The GOP tax bill would increase the health care tax burden for low- and middle-income taxpayers, especially seniors and people with disabilities.  Millions of Americans with high medical bills would no longer be able to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses.
5. The GOP bill is unfair to union members.  Corporations can deduct payments to lawyers to fight unions, but union members can no longer deduct their union dues under this bill.
6. The GOP tax bill would punish states that make the kind of investments that create good jobs.  Repealing the deduction for state and local income taxes would make it harder for states to raise enough money to invest in high-quality education, infrastructure, and good jobs.
7. The GOP tax bill is bad for students.  Tax deductions for student loan interest, tuition expenses, and tuition assistance would be ended, as would tax credits for students to cover college expenses.
8. The GOP tax bill will not be fully paid for, so we can expect Republicans to demand more budget cuts that hurt working people in the future.  The Republican budget allows for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts that are not paid for in the first decade.  First the Wall Street millionaires throw themselves a party, then they stick the rest of us with the tab.

Write to your senators today and demand that they reject the Republican tax scam. The richest 1% and wealthy corporations don’t need permanent tax loopholes at the expense of the rest of us.

CBO chart shows just how #GOPTaxBill robs working people. Furthering an economy that only works for super rich. pic.twitter.com/hb5gGYyQGn

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) November 19, 2017

Republicans are trying to pull a fast one on the American people. The #GOPTaxScam does nothing for the middle class or working families. It lines the pockets of the wealthiest 1% and makes it easier for corporations to ship American jobs overseas.

— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 16, 2017

#GOPTaxPlan will strip health care away from 13M Americans and increase health insurance premiums by 10%. Take action now and call your senators at 844-899-9913 and tell them to vote no. pic.twitter.com/autPndOCQt

— AFL-CIO (@AFLCIO) November 20, 2017

The post Eight Reasons Why the Republican Tax Bill is Bad for Working People appeared first on IAMAW.

On Tuesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) along with Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Cabin Air Safety Act, a bill that seeks to protect airline passengers and cabin crew from toxic cabin air.

Academic research indicates that approximately 20,000 toxic fume events have occurred during the past 10 years – an average of five each day.

“The IAM commends Senators Blumenthal, Feinstein and Markey for introducing legislation that will help ensure the safety of the passengers and crew from the dangers of toxic air,” said Transportation GVP Sito Pantoja.

District 142 President Dave Supplee, an FAA-licensed Airframe and Powerplant technician, met with Senator Blumenthal’s staff to provide technical help as they drafted the bill.

The Cabin Safety Act aims to make the cabin air on airplanes safer through multiple steps such as:
• Training: Mandating pilot and flight attendant training regarding toxic fumes on aircraft.

• Reporting: Requiring FAA to record and monitor reports of fume events through a standardized form and public database.

• Investigating: Ensuring that thorough investigations occur after fume events occur.

• Monitoring: Ensuring that aircraft have carbon monoxide sensors that are set to alarm based on national air quality standards.

IAM members can express support for the Bill and urge their Senators to vote for it by sending an IAM action alert by clicking here.

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