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WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2026 – Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) sent a letter to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democratic Caucus and released the following statement regarding the future direction of leadership in the U.S. Senate:
“Last week, American voters elected the most resounding sweep of economic change-makers in generations; decisively opting for a future that centers working-class pocketbook issues above partisanship.
“The IAM Union appreciates the past contributions and efforts of Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
“And, we have notified Senator Schumer and the Senate Democratic Caucus that we believe it is time for a new direction in the leadership of the U.S. Senate.
“American voters across more than a dozen battleground states – 600,000 of whom are members of IAM Union – resoundingly rejected the politics of the past last Tuesday, electing more rank-and-file union members to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as state houses across the country – than ever before.
“We cannot afford to go backward. The only way out of the existential crisis working people have been suspended in for the past 50 years is forward, and through.
“On behalf of our 600,000 members, the IAM Union is through with any member of leadership, in any political party, who stops one iota short of being a ferocious, unyielding and unbending champion of working people. This means being a full-throated, relentless advocate for rapid, sweeping economic policy changes that will recalibrate the vast, immoral, economic injustice in this country.
“We need immediate cost-of-living relief by getting rid of reckless tariffs on Canada and other allies. We must swiftly pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to give workers a fair shot at joining a union and put real penalties on employers that break the law to silence workers. We should restore the collective bargaining rights for more than a million federal workers, including those in the Department of Defense. We must not only restore the Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies, but finally join the rest of the industrialized world in guaranteeing healthcare for every American. Finally, we must pass substantive guardrails on AI that puts the future of new technology in the hands of workers, not a few Big Tech billionaires.
“Our members, and all Americans, want and chose unequivocal champions for working class people, who will move heaven and earth to dismantle systems of economic oppression and arduous, outdated, anti-worker labor laws that have dramatically rigged the rules against workers in the United States, with increasingly more disastrous results since the 1970s.
“Our future belongs to the workers. We support a change in the leadership of the Senate that reflects this, and honors the decisive choice of the American public to intentionally transform our Congress.
“Millions of American voters stood up together in dozens of states across America on Nov. 3, to decisively reject politics as usual, and voted overwhelmingly to usher in a new era of change. Anything less would be a stark injustice to the democratic mandate of millions of working people who chose change.”
The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.
