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March 22, 2018
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Machinists Union International President Robert Martinez Jr. issued the following statement on the administration’s announcement regarding China and intellectual property rights.
“The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has been protesting China’s demands that U.S. manufacturing companies—especially those related to aerospace—transfer jobs and technology to China for many years. These demands, and the apparent willingness of some U.S. companies to comply with them, have cost U.S. workers thousands of high-skilled jobs which have been outsourced to China, a country that does not recognize the fundamental human right to form a legitimate union.
“Thousands more U.S. aerospace jobs will be lost in the future as China’s aerospace industry grows and becomes a global competitor, built in part on U.S. technology and outsourced U.S. production. The announcement today regarding intellectual property rights and China represents an important step forward to address this critical matter. Much work remains, however. While we will be reviewing the entire report closely to see if it addresses the transfer of technology, production and jobs, we urge the U.S. Trade Representative to pursue a trade violation claim in the WTO to stop China from using these unfair trade practices that are costing U.S. aerospace workers and all U.S. manufacturing workers hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“We will also to continue to urge the Administration to strike any incentives for companies to outsource work that occur in our tax law. Other actions are also needed, including adequate funding of the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, and inclusion of international labor standards in all trade agreements.”
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents 600,000 active and retired members in the North American aerospace, defense, airline, manufacturing, transportation, woodworking, the federal sector and other industries. Machinists Union members work at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, General Electric, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson and more. Visit goIAM.org for more information.
