Nov 13, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2026 — Brian Bryant, International President of the 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) released the following statement following its Nov. 10 call for Senator Schumer to not seek the position of Majority Leader:
“The IAM Union proudly supports Senator Chris Van Hollen for Senate Majority Leader. He’s a proven champion of working people who will fight to unrig an economy stacked against working families.
“Senator Van Hollen understands this is a fight of Workers vs. Billionaires and has the courage to deliver the change voters demanded.
“Workers did their part on election night. Now it’s Senate Democrats’ turn. Senator Van Hollen is the right choice.”
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.
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Nov 10, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
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.
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Nov 6, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
Resounding Rebuke on Era of MAGA is ‘Labor’s Revenge’; Catapults Working-People Champions to Power Across U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) joins working people across America in celebrating the record-shattering victories of labor-champion candidates who won office up and down the ballot across the United States Tuesday night.
In the largest electoral swing in a generation, the American people rose up — rejecting billionaires and their attempts to buy the election. Instead, they elected to flip the U.S. Senate and House, as well as gubernatorial and state legislative control across the country.
“Workers vs. billionaires—that was the choice, and voters chose economic change. For more than 50 years, working people have watched their voices and power pushed aside. Too often, our political and economic system has served the wealthy few, not the people who keep this country running,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “This isn’t left versus right or Democrat versus Republican—it’s the top versus the rest of us. While extremists push divisive cultural issues to turn us against one another, working people are focused on kitchen-table concerns: the cost of groceries, health care, retirement security and dignity on the job. These victories show what we can accomplish when we stand together. They make clear that we need a system that works for workers—with lower costs, secure retirement and dignity on the job. The mandate is clear: put working people first.”
The victories come with an exclamation mark, as IAM Union mobilized to elect working people up and down the ballot across the nation, activating a large and active membership with vested stakes in a wide range of sectors, and diverse partisan affiliation. The mobilizations included in-person worksite meetings with thousands of battleground-state members held in a two-month rolling blitz of IAM Union member worksites in 15 states.
The effort, coined the IAM Union Workers vs. Billionaires Tour, included an exhaustive canvassing program of member-to-member house calls, which resulted in tens of thousands of IAM Union members having their doors at home contacted in September and October.
Running the largest midterm election mobilization in its history this cycle paid dividends for the union, including successfully re-electing aircraft mechanic, military veteran, and IAM Union member Taylor Rehmet back to the Texas State Senate for the second time this year, when he made national headlines by flipping a Trump + 17 seat by double digits.
It also resulted in the successful election of National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) member Sam Forstag to the U.S. House, after he flipped Montana’s first congressional district by running a worker-powered, barnstorming campaign. Congressman-elect Forstag is deeply connected to his union; his experience organizing non-union Forest Service workers as they fought back against massive Trump cuts to federal worker funding in 2020 is what sparked him to step back from day-to-day work as wildfire smoke jumper, and focus on taking on the people in Washington, D.C. who voted for those cuts.
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.
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Oct 27, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
As union competes in more states than ever before, aggressive nationwide program of direct voter contact and worksite visits is giving pro-worker candidates an edge
WASHINGTON – IAM Union members from more than a dozen different industries including aerospace, airlines, rail, defense, healthcare, and the federal government are executing their largest election mobilization program ever, with major election programs across 15 different battleground states recently surpassing 20,000 knocks.
In programs across Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, IAM Union members are running massive door knocking, phonebanking, and worksite visit operations, as well as holding frequent rallies featuring high profile endorsed candidates.
Last week, U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico rallied with IAM Union members in an IAM-organized event in Houston, one day after U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon rallied with IAM Union members in an event in Orlando, Florida. North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper joined IAM members at a large canvass launch in Charlotte.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined IAM Union members and leaders to rally in Florida, and in Maine, U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson met with IAM Union members at the gates of the largest unionized private sector employer in the state, Bath Iron Works. Worksite visits have been a major part of the program across battleground states, with IAM Union strategically tailoring visits to the largest IAM-represented employers in target states, including multiple states where worksites with 5,000+ IAM members are being contacted.
“Working people are suffering in this country because wealth is being transferred from the working class and consolidated into the greedy hands of billionaires and oligarchs,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “The only way to stem the bleeding is by throwing out the politicians who sacrifice the rest of us to serve the Ultra-Rich. Economic prosperity in America means that every working person can live with dignity on one full time job; it means every person has access to quality healthcare; it means we take care of our most vulnerable and dismantle restrictions aimed at eliminating our freedom to unionize and negotiate. The IAM Union is running direct voter contact programs across 15 states, our biggest election mobilization ever, because the working class is in an existential fight for survival. We applaud our union members organizing across the country for the candidates who will stand with us, and we will leave it all on the field as we fight to bring home victories on Nov. 3 in more places than we have ever competed.”
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Oct 27, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
More than 200 IAM Union and Texas AFL-CIO union members rallied with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico in Houston on October 21 for a superstar-studded IAM Union ‘Workers vs. Billionaires’ barnburner election event.
Watch the highlight video.
Local Texas union members were joined by national and regional labor leaders flying in to throw their support behind the marquee Senate race, including IAM Union International President Brian Bryant; AFL-CIO International President Liz Shuler; IAM Union General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes; and IAM Union Air Transport Territory Richie Johnsen. Both before and after the event, union members participated in direct voter contact from the union hall the event was held in, educating other union members about how and why to vote Talarico for Senate.
Watch the live stream.
The rally is the third IAM Workers vs. Billionaires Midterm election event in Texas in just the past two weeks. As the affordability crisis in Texas worsens to a fever pitch, union workers and working-class people across the state are rising up to passionately back the ascendant campaign of James Talarico for U.S. Senate. In Texas and across the country, anti-worker billionaires are pouring millions into our elections to hand pick politicians who will push legislation that rewards corporations and harms working families.
The event, co-organized by IAM Union, the AFL-CIO, the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, and the Texas AFL-CIO, was the largest national showing of labor power for the Talarico for Senate campaign yet.
View photos.
“This election cycle, everything we have ever fought for is on the line,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “In Texas, our most fundamental civil rights have been reversed and attacked by the politicians in control. The extreme right has closed 92 voting locations in Tarrant County alone, just to stop us from voting. When the ruling class fights this hard to rig the rules against us, you have to wonder what for. In this case, it’s crystal clear: Texas is ground zero for the attacks on working class life as we know it in this state. We will not give up our way of life and the values we hold dear; working people are rising up in ways we have not for generations in this country, and we’re taking control for our economy, our lives, and our futures back.”
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Oct 23, 2026 | Politics & Legislative News
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2026 — “Every F-35 starts with a union machinist. In Fort Worth, in Connecticut and across a supply chain that reaches 48 states, IAM Union members are building the most advanced fighter in the world.
“A 10-year contract would give suppliers the confidence to invest, keep specialized skills in the shop and put skilled union workers on firmer ground, giving thousands of working families confidence in their long-term job prospects. It would also save taxpayers an estimated $9 billion to $10 billion and fund the spare parts and repair capacity that keep jets flying.
“Congress has two decisions to make: authorize the 10-year contract and fully fund the 85 aircraft planned for fiscal 2027.
“Our members take great pride in building this aircraft, and they are ready to keep building it. A long-term commitment from Congress would give them and their suppliers the certainty to do just that.”
IAM Union Backs 10-Year F-35 Contract, Urges Congress to Authorize and Fully Fund Program
IAM Union says long-term commitment protects skilled union jobs, saves taxpayers billions and keeps more jets mission-ready
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2026 — The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) today announced its support for a proposed 10-year F-35 Lightning II procurement and sustainment contract and called on Congress to provide the authority needed to execute it in the final Fiscal Year 2027 defense authorization and appropriations bills.
IAM members build the F-35 at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility and produce F135 engines at Pratt & Whitney facilities in Connecticut and across the country.
“IAM Union members build this aircraft with their hands, and they build it to last,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “A 10-year commitment tells suppliers and workers that Washington is serious about this program. It protects good union jobs, saves taxpayers money and gets increased capability into the hands of our warfighters, faster. Congress should authorize it.”
Program estimates show a 10-year arrangement would save taxpayers $9 billion to $10 billion over the decade, though final prices must still be negotiated. Buying one year at a time, by contrast, makes it harder for suppliers to plan and purchase efficiently.
A longer planning horizon would let suppliers invest and retain specialized skills rather than react to one-year signals. The impact on suppliers alone would be significant: the F-35 supply chain includes more than 1,900 suppliers in 48 states and Puerto Rico and supports more than 317,000 U.S. jobs.
A longer horizon would also enable Lockheed Martin to invest more than $7 billion in sustainment, which the program says is essential to its goal of an 80% mission-capable fleet by 2030. The IAM noted that buying aircraft is not the same as having them ready to fly. Funded spare parts and repair capacity make the difference.
The announcement follows a bipartisan letter from members of Congress, supported by the IAM, urging multiyear procurement authority and a minimum of 85 aircraft in fiscal 2027.
“Our members take great pride in building this aircraft, and they are ready to keep building it,” Bryant said. “A long-term commitment from Congress would give them and their suppliers the certainty to do just that.”
The IAM Union represents approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, manufacturing, transit, healthcare, automotive and other industries.
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