Human Rights Department Director Charlotte Sund, right, and Marilyn Jones, Secretary.

Human Rights

For more than a quarter century, the delegates assembled at Grand Lodge Conventions have reaffirmed the IAM’s commitment to ensuring civil and human rights not only for all IAM members, but also for all minorities throughout North America and the world. The IAM Human Rights Department is committed to ensuring a workplace and a world in which people of any color, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual preference, or age are free from all forms of discrimination.

There have been changes in the Human Rights Department since the last Grand Lodge Convention. The first and only director of the department, Clark Johnson, retired June 1, 2002 after more than 25 years of service and Charlotte Sund was appointed to the position.

The points of the IAM’s continuing Human Rights resolution from past Grand Lodge Conventions are as follows:

1. The IAM continue and strengthen its commitment to and its work in support of the civil rights and human rights of all Americans;

2. The IAM continue to support the right of all minorities and women to enjoy effective and non-discriminatory national, state and local programs relating to unemployment, education, job training, adequate housing, effective schools that recognize the language and cultural needs of minorities, and comprehensive health care. We must also resist all legislation and judicial attacks on these programs;

3. The IAM must continue fighting company discrimination against women, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and any other minorities with respect to hiring, upgrading and access to skilled jobs;

4. The IAM continue its support of the AFL-CIO and coalition groups we are affiliated with such as A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Asian and Pacific American Labor Alliance and Pride At Work;

5. The IAM must continue to assure equal opportunity for full integration of all minority and women workers in our union at every level of the life and leadership of this organization;

6. The leadership and membership of the IAM maintain full support for the IAM Human Rights Department in its vigorous pursuit of the goals of this resolution;

7. The IAM encourages and promotes the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and urge all locals to make every effort to incorporate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a paid holiday in their various labor agreements;

8. The IAM condemns the War on Drugs as it is currently practiced and calls upon the U.S. Congress to create a Harm Reduction Policy in dealing with drugs and to retroactively apply this Harm Reduction Policy to those imprisoned by this disastrous and un-American War on Drugs.

Every lodge has been directed, by convention mandate and order of the International President, to establish Human Rights Committees because they serve a vital function in our union.

We are continuing to work with our locals and districts to accomplish that goal. We have developed a set of pamphlets for Human Rights Committees and the membership:

Human Rights in the IAM is the policy and goals of the IAM with regard to Human Rights in the IAM, in the workplace and in our communities.

Human Rights, An Action Guide is a clear explanation of what the IAM expects as the ROLE (Represent, Organize, Legislate, Educate) of our Human Rights Committees.

How You Can Help is a pocket guide for Stewards and Human Rights Committee members to use as a reminder of how to respond to Human Rights complaints.

The Human Rights Manual has been revised and is designed to help local and district lodges ensure equality and justice for all members both on the job and within the Union. It includes:

■ a discussion of human rights and trade unionism;
■ the vision of the IAM’s Human Rights Department;
■ the “how” and “why” of district and local lodge Human Rights Committees;
■ an Action Plan for Human Rights Committees;
■ an explanation of some of the tough issues Human Rights Committees will confront, such as harassment, affirmative action, and accommodations;
■ guidelines for handling complaints;
■ checklists to ensure our committees are doing their jobs and;
■ appendices covering the IAM’s historical response to human rights issues; a summary of relevant laws; sample policies and procedures; frequently asked questions; a glossary; important dates; and a resource guide.