Welcome to the Campaign to Join the IAM
Congratulations! You and your fellow employees have taken the first step toward gaining dignity and respect on the job by contacting the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM). If you are interested in having the IAM as your representative, but have not yet been personally contacted to sign an authorization card for an election, please Contact Us. The IAM has a proud, 120-year history of representing people in a multitude of industries throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam.
The Service Contract Act (SCA)
The Service Contract Act of 1965 provides labor standards for certain persons employed by Federal contractors to furnish services to Federal Agencies:
Section 4 (c):
(c) No contractor or subcontractor under a
contract, which succeeds a contract subject to
this Act and under which substantially the
same services are furnished, shall pay any
service employee under such contract less
than the wages and fringe benefits, increases
in wages and fringe benefits provided for in a
collective bargaining agreement as a result of
arm's length negotiations to which such ser-
vice employees would have been entitled if
they were employed under the predecessor
contract: Provided, that in any of the forego-
ing circumstances such obligations shall not
apply if the Secretary finds after a hearing in
accordance with regulations adopted by the
Secretary that such wages and fringe benefits
are substantially at variance with those which
prevail for services of character similar in the
locality.
What does this mean in English? For unrepresented employees, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) determines the minimum wages by doing periodic wage surveys in the locality in which the Service Contract employees work. Then the DOL issues a wage determination.
For UNION REPRESENTED employees who engage in collective bargaining, the wages and benefits negotiated as a result of "arm's length negotiations" replace and serve as the minimum prevailing wage for that Service Contract. These rates are often substantially higher than the DOL's wage determinations. For more information on the Service Contract Act and what IAM representation can do for you, click here.
What's in it for you?
Union members have a voice in their own destiny.
The IAM will work to negotiate for:
Better wages
Job security - protection from "At Will" termination
Hours of work and shifts
Improved medical benefits
Improvements in paid holidays, vacations and sick/family leave
Seniority provisions
Work rules that spell out your rights and safety on the job
Union members earn better wages and benefits than workers who aren't union members. Union membership helps raise workers' pay and narrow the income gap that disadvantages minorities and women. Union workers earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total compensation (wages and benefits combined) are 42 percent more for union workers than nonunion workers. Their median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary work were $863 in 2007, compared with $663 for their nonunion counterparts.
The union wage benefit is even greater for minorities and women. Union women earn 33 percent more than nonunion women, African American union members earn 37 percent more than their nonunion counterparts, for Latino workers, the union advantage equals 51 percent and for Asian American workers, the union advantage is 4 percent.
While only 15% of nonunion workers have guaranteed pensions, fully 67% of union workers do. More than 78 percent of union workers have jobs that provide health insurance benefits, but only 49% of nonunion workers do. Unions help employers create a more stable, productive workforce -- where workers have a say in improving their jobs.
Union Members LIVE Better
