Each and every IAM member, through delegates elected to represent their local lodges, has a voice at the IAM convention. International President Tom Buffenbarger answers questions from the press at the 36th IAM Convention in Cincinatti, Ohio.

Media Guide

The IAM's international convention convenes every four years. Each and every IAM member, through delegates elected to represent their local lodges, has a voice at the IAM convention.

For a full week, each delegate can participate in open, democratic discussions, debate and votes on crucial issues that will establish IAM policies and programs for the next four years.

Delegates work diligently to set priorities and develop policies that will serve as benchmarks for guiding the IAM and its members through the stormy seas which lie ahead. IAM members, indeed, all working families face daunting challenges, challenges in the workplace...challenges in the political arena...challenges in the global economy.

As the world changes, working families and the unions which represent them must develop new strategies, new priorities, new commitments to win the battles for social justice and economic dignity that are the birthright of every working man or woman. This then, is the legacy of the Grand Lodge Convention.

The most recent Grand Lodge Convention, the 36th, was held in Cincinnati, Ohio in September 2004.

Key Facts About the IAM

The IAM; the Machinists Union or the IAMAW are accepted, proper names for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO/CLC.

Current Membership: Approximately 720,000 active and retired members in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Affiliations: The IAM is affiliated with the AFL-CIO; Canadian Labour Congress; Railway Labor Executives’ Association; International Labor Organization; International Metalworkers Federation; International Transport Workers’ Federation.

Industries Represented: The IAM is active in more than 200 basic industries as defined by the US Department of Labor. It maintains one or more agreements with almost every major employer in the USA and Canada. As the largest airline union in North America, the IAM represents nearly 120,000 Transportation workers in the United States and Canada. The IAM is also heavily concentrated in: Aerospace, Shipbuilding, Manufacturing and Electronics.

Organizational Structure: IAM represented workers belong to Local Lodges, which typically represent employees at one or more companies. The Local Lodges are affiliated with one of District Lodges, which typically represent a larger geographic territory. IAM headquarters, also known as the Grand Lodge, coordinates and supports the activities of the district and local lodges.

Elections and governance: All IAM officers, from the Local Lodges through the International President, are nominated in open union meetings and elected through direct, secret ballot votes of the membership. Every four years, local lodge members elect delegates to the IAM Grand Lodge Convention. The delegates are the ultimate authority within the IAM, debating and enacting binding policy resolutions and amendments to the IAM Constitution.