Jun 27, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2025 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), representing 600,000 active and retired members across North America, is calling on U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd to oppose proposed Medicaid cuts in the reconciliation package (H.R. 1) that threaten healthcare access for working families and could force the closure of rural hospitals across North Carolina.
IAM Union International President Brian Bryant issued a letter urging Senators Tillis and Budd to reject the legislation, citing its devastating effects on healthcare access and economic stability in North Carolina communities. The IAM Union represents thousands of workers in the state, including at Spirit AeroSystems in Kinston and among airline workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
“These harmful cuts would not only strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, but also endanger the viability of hospitals and clinics that our members and their families rely on,” wrote IAM Union International President Bryant. “Even the best health insurance means little if the nearest hospital is closed or overwhelmed. The IAM is proud to negotiate strong healthcare benefits for our members. However, no bargaining agreement can replace a shuttered emergency room or a defunded clinic. We need Senators Tillis and Budd to protect the people they serve and reject these reckless cuts.”
It’s projected that more than 270,000 North Carolinians will lose their Medicaid coverage if the proposal passes. Meanwhile, reports indicate at least five rural hospitals in the state are at risk of closing due to financial shortfalls. North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services warns that the proposed Medicaid cuts will strain the state’s already-fragile rural healthcare network, where many providers depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay operational.
Read the letters to U.S. Senators Tillis and Budd.
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.
goIAM.org | @IAM_Union
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Jun 27, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2025 – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), representing 600,000 active and retired members across North America, is calling on U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt to reject the Medicaid cuts proposed in the reconciliation package (H.R. 1), warning that the legislation would devastate healthcare access and put Missouri’s rural hospitals at risk.
In a letter to the Senators, IAM Union International President Brian Bryant emphasized the bill’s real-world consequences for working families and communities across Missouri.
“The IAM Union represents thousands of aerospace, airline, and manufacturing workers throughout the state, including at Boeing’s St. Louis facility and at major airports,” wrote IAM Union International President Bryant. “These cuts would deliver a painful blow to Missouri’s healthcare system and threaten the stability of rural hospitals. Even with strong union health benefits, our members need access to functioning hospitals and clinics. If healthcare infrastructure collapses, every Missourian is at risk — especially in rural communities.”
The legislation proposes strict new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and sharp reductions in federal funding. Reports indicate that hundreds of thousands of Missourians could lose coverage, and hospitals that rely on Medicaid reimbursements could be forced to close or reduce critical services. Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services has already warned that the state’s rural health providers operate on thin margins and cannot absorb the proposed cuts.
The IAM Union is calling on Senators Hawley and Schmitt to stand up for working families and vote against this harmful legislation.
Read the letters to U.S. Senators Hawley and Schmitt.
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.
goIAM.org | @IAM_Union
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Jun 24, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
On Tuesday, IAM Union leaders, a congressional delegation and local shipbuilders gathered at Boston Ship Repair, an IAM-represented repair yard in downtown Boston, to call attention to the need to reinvigorate America’s domestic shipbuilding and repair industry. In recent years, global shipping companies have overwhelmingly chosen to use cheap labor and materials to source vessels primarily from China. As a result, this strategically vital domestic industry along with its highly skilled workforce have suffered greatly. These leaders met in a call to action to reinvigorate domestic shipbuilding for the sake of U.S. economic and national security.
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Jun 17, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
BOSTON, June 17, 2025 – U.S. Reps. Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) joined the IAM Union and Boston Ship Repair leadership to call for urgent investments to save the U.S. shipbuilding and repair industries.
Joined by IAM Union-represented workers at Boston Ship Repair, the coalition of elected officials, union leaders and shipyard management highlighted the national and economic security risk posed by a dwindling U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry. Currently, about 80 U.S.-flagged ships are engaged in international commerce compared to over 5,500 China-flagged vessels. China recently overtook the U.S. in Navy fleet size.
The group has backed U.S. Trade Representative penalties on Chinese ships and steps to incentivize the production and purchase of U.S.-built vessels. They are also championing the bipartisan SHIPS for America Act, which would rebuild the U.S. shipyard base and invest in recruitment and training of shipyard workers and mariners. The coalition is highlighting the need to efficiently utilize and grow domestic shipbuilding and repair capacity to increase the workforce at Boston Ship Repair and across the country.
“Our ship-building and ship-repair industries have a tremendous impact on our national security and our ability to maintain freedom of navigation for all nations,” said Rep. Lynch. “Today we are facing a critical shortage among our U.S. shipbuilding and repair capacity, and we are falling behind in production and upkeep of both our commercial and naval vessels. We must continue to make substantial federal investments in our shipyards and ship-repair facilities in order to maintain our position in the world. I am grateful to my congressional colleagues, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Jared Golden (D-ME) for traveling to Boston Ship Repair in South Boston today to join me to show support for our shipbuilding and ship-repair industry. My thanks as well to International Machinists Union VP David Sullivan, BSR owner Jon Cronin, CEO Ed Snyder, and IAM Local President Andre Lavertue and all the union members of the IAM for their continued support of our regional ship-repair industry.”
“Revitalizing American shipbuilding is critical to our national and economic security. It’s a bipartisan goal in Washington, and we need to use all of our available shipyard capacity to get the job done if we’re going to deliver on it,” said Rep. Courtney. “We must provide American shipyards and shipbuilders, like Boston Ship Repair, with the demand they need to make investments in their future and the future of our domestic shipbuilding industry.”
“America needs strong shipyards. On the defense front, we are lagging in the production of American warships necessary to meet current and future force needs. We also lack the commercial vessels we need to compete in the global economy,” Rep. Golden said. “The reality is simple: If we aren’t giving work to the men and women who power America’s shipyards, they will find new jobs and we will fall further behind. Congress needs to keep up demand for warships to sustain the world’s greatest Navy and we need to pass the SHIPS Act to strengthen our shipyards, our commercial fleet and our supply chains. Our future demands it.”
“American national and economic security depends on urgent and long overdue investments in our shipbuilding and repair industry,” said IAM Union Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan. “That’s why the IAM Union has led the way toward tougher trade rules on China, much-needed investments in U.S. shipyard workers, and a strong call for the efficient use of our existing shipyards, like Boston Ship Repair. We’re incredibly grateful for our champions in this fight, including Congressmen Lynch, Courtney and Golden.”
“We’ve invested in Boston Ship Repair because we believe in its potential—not just as a business, but as a critical national asset,” said Boston Ship Repair Owner Jon Cronin. “With a highly skilled union workforce, proven infrastructure, and the experience to deliver, BSR stands ready to be part of the solution to America’s shipyard capacity crisis. But we can’t do it alone. Without consistent work and federal investment, this vital facility—and the hundreds of jobs it sustains—are at risk. We’re calling on Congress and the Navy to recognize BSR not just as a shipyard, but as a strategic pillar of the defense industrial base. With immediate support, we can expand our capacity, modernize our infrastructure, and begin reducing the Navy’s repair backlog today—while preserving American maritime strength for generations to come.”
“Our IAM Union members at Boston Ship Repair are skilled, dedicated workers who are proud to support our maritime missions,” said IAM Union Local S25 President Andre Lavertue, a 30-year IAM Union member and crane operator at Boston Ship Repair. “But over the years, we’ve seen these jobs become less reliable and too often result in layoffs when work goes away. American shipyard workers are ready to reinvigorate this industry and win the future of global shipbuilding and repair.”
The IAM Union, which represents workers at Boston Ship Repair and shipbuilding and repair workers across the country, is leading the charge to restore U.S. shipbuilding by investing in American workers, as well as taking on predatory Chinese trade practices through a U.S. Trade Representative’s Office investigation and supporting the bipartisan SHIPS for America Act.
Boston Ship Repair has provided personalized services for domestic, international and government customers since 1995. It is one of the largest docks on the Eastern and Gulf Coasts and can handle vessels up to 1,000 feet with a 105 foot beam. Boston Ship Repair is committed to provide vessel maintenance, repair, overhaul and conversion services that are unsurpassed in the industry.
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Jun 10, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
IAM Union International President Brian Bryant recently expressed his appreciation to a coalition of House Freshmen for signing a letter supporting fair trade practices, including a renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.
“On behalf of the 600,000 active and retired members of this very diverse union, I want to thank these House Freshmen who understand the importance of fair trade policy,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “U.S. trade policy has led many news headlines in recent months, and this letter underscores the importance of renegotiating the USMCA to protect domestic manufacturing in areas like aerospace, reauthorizing the U.S. Labor Department’s TAA program, and enacting strategic tariffs that punish bad actors and protect U.S. jobs.”
Rep. Josh Riley (NY-19) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (CA-12) led 18 of their colleagues in a letter to President Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer calling for a trade policy that strengthens America’s middle class, rebuilds the U.S. industrial base, and safeguards family farms and small businesses.
“For too long, bad trade deals have been written in Wall Street boardrooms and rubber-stamped in political backrooms—while towns from Endicott to Ellenville got sold out,” said Rep. Josh Riley. “I came to Congress to give blue-collar towns a real voice in trade talks. I’ll work with anyone from any party who wants to rethink trade in a way that supports American farmers, builds American factories for American workers, and strengthens national security.”
“I’m proud to represent the Port of Oakland, the largest refrigerated cargo export port in the United States,” said Rep. Lateefah Simon. “Tariffs are not inherently bad, but President Trump’s chaotic, self-imposed tariff war has been a disaster for the U.S. economy. That’s why I am leading my freshman colleagues to call on the president to fix U.S. trade policy to support workers, small businesses, and the environment.”
The members outlined four key areas of proposed collaboration:
1. Improving the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):
- Include stronger labor and environmental standards.
- Close China’s USMCA backdoor into U.S. markets.
- Fix digital trade provisions.
2. Investing in American Manufacturing:
3. Reauthorizing Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA):
- Support and improve TAA for communities impacted by past trade policies.
4. Pairing Strategic Tariffs with Pro-Worker Laws:
- Implement tariffs with anti-price gouging and pro-labor reforms.
Read the full text of the letter here.
The IAM continues advocating for trade agreements prioritizing U.S. labor standards, environmental protections, and domestic production.
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May 19, 2025 | Politics & Legislative News
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2025—The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) and the IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) will gather outside the Department of Commerce on Tuesday, May 20, at 8:30 a.m. to welcome back employees of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA).
Approximately 35 employees, represented by NFFE-IAM, had been placed on administrative leave and faced a Reduction in Force (RIF) threat. Now returning to their jobs, they will be greeted with signs of support and solidarity.
Federal workers are the backbone of our nation, providing essential services that keep our country running.
Event Details:
What: IAM Union and NFFE-IAM to host a visibility event to welcome back MBDA workers
When: Tuesday, May 20, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
Where: Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. (supporters will gather at the 14th Street main entrance)
Who: IAM Union, NFFE-IAM, labor allies, and community supporters
RSVP: Interested reporters can RSVP by emailing Bethany Shelton (bshelton@iamaw.org).
Supporters will hold signs welcoming the MBDA workers back and thanking them for their work. Members of Congress, elected officials, and local community leaders are invited to attend this event.
The IAM Union and NFFE-IAM invite members of the media to attend and cover this event. Visuals and interview opportunities will be available.
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, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.
goIAM.org | @IAM_Union
The post May 20: NFFE-IAM, IAM Union to Welcome Minority Business Development Agency Employees Back to Work After Administrative Leave, RIF Threats appeared first on IAM Union.
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