General Secretary-Treasurer 
Donald E. Wharton

GVP Western Territory
Lee Pearson

GVP Canada 
Dave Ritchie

GVP Midwest Territory
Alex M. Bay

GVP IAM Headquarters 
Robert V. Thayer

GVP Southern Territory 
George Hooper

GVP Eastern Territory 
Warren L. Mart 

GVP Transportation
Robert Roach, Jr.

IAM Win Brings Bargaining Rights For 300 at ATA
A mail ballot vote by Fleet Service workers at American Trans Air produced an overwhelming margin for IAM representation in a Valentine's Day victory at the Washington, D.C. offices of the National Mediation Board (NMB).

Today's vote was the second round of balloting for the unit of approximately 300 airline employees. An August 9, 2000 count was voided by the NMB when it was discovered the Midway Airport-based carrier committed numerous violations of election law, including captive audience meetings and raises handed out on the day ballots were mailed.

"Carrier interference is against the law," said Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr.

"Our district organizers and legal department worked together with ATA employees to win the new election and today's victory. These new members are off to a great start as Fighting Machinists."

Related links:
Carrier interference decision by NMB
IAM Transportation Department

Bush Targets Right to Strike at Northwest Airlines
The threat by George W. Bush to convene a rarely used Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) in the labor dispute at Northwest Airlines highlights the inability of small, independent associations to effectively represent airline employees.

Promising to intervene if no agreement is reached by March 12, President Bush takes aim at the weak and un-affiliated association representing mechanics at Northwest with dreams of making his mark as Ronald Reagan did with air-traffic controllers in 1981.

Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats could find themselves unlikely allies as both groups line up to oppose intervention by a president who campaigned under the banner of less, not more, government interference. Any attempt by the new president to dismantle 60 years of established labor law will almost certainly place him at the center of a battle he cannot win.

"We will continue to take full advantage of every legal opportunity to advance the interests of our airline members at the bargaining table," said GVP Robert Roach, Jr. "Meanwhile, our partnership with more than 13 million members of the AFL-CIO should give Mr. Bush pause before he considers moving this corporate crusade in our direction."

"The IAM has a long history of reaching collective bargaining agreements without strikes and without interference from the federal government," said Roach. "We fully intend to continue that practice."

Related links:
Frequently asked questions about PEBs
 

MNPL Sets New Records
IAM members set five new records for contributions to the union's Machinists Non-Partisan Political League (MNPL) during the last election cycle. With $814,336.99, Transportation set a new record for total contributions by territories. The Western Territory set a new record for cents per member contributions, $10.83.

At the state level, IAM members in Washington topped out at $586,277.75, a new record. At the district level, IAM District 751 in Seattle set a new benchmark for cents per member, $17.52. Finally, Local 1976, Pittsburgh, set a new record with 46 percent of its members becoming sponsoring members of MNPL.

Related links:
IAM District 751
 

New Ergonomics Rule Under Fire
A cabal of right-wing Republicans and corporate lobbyists are brewing up plans to overturn the new ergonomics rules issued in the last days of the Clinton administration. The OSHA regulations require businesses to inform workers about repetitive motion injuries and to eliminate the workplace hazards that cause them.

The new rules, which became effective January 16, give employers until mid-October of 2001 to inform workers about repetitive-motion injuries and their symptoms. If an employee reports pain or an injury that has lasted for a week, the employer must determine if it is workplace related.

Six million workplace injuries are caused each year from repetitive motion, overexertion or vibration. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 600,000 of these injuries are serious enough to cause time off the job. The threatened ergonomics rules "will protect more working Americans than any other rule OSHA has adopted" in its 30-year history, said Charles Jeffress, OSHA administrator during the Clinton administration.

Senator Kit Bond, R-MO and Representative Dick Armey, R-TX are leading the fight to cancel the rules and bar OSHA from issuing similar ones in the future.

Related links:
OSHA

Commission Finds Offsets Cause 'Significant' U.S. Job Losses
The Presidential Commission on Offsets in International Trade issued an initial status report this week and confirmed trade offsets are responsible for significant job losses in both defense and non-defense industries. IP Tom Buffenbarger sits on the 10-member commission as the sole labor representative.

Trade offsets are the practice by which U.S. companies offer manufacturing technology, training and production capability to overseas companies in exchange for lucrative production contracts. Long used in the defense and aerospace industries, offsets have begun to appear in non-defense related industries.

The commission, created by former President Clinton, was charged to examine and report on the use and consequences of offsets. The IAM has long held that offsets pose a serious risk to our manufacturing base and possibly to our national security if such technology were to fall into the wrong hands.

Related links: 

Presidential Offsets Commission

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