IAMAW 141 VIDEO REPORT: District Lobbyist, James Wells

IAMAW 141 VIDEO REPORT: District Lobbyist, James Wells

Oct 9, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2 | 0 comments

141 Report: District Lobbyist James Wells

James Wells, from Local 1726 in Boston, talks about some of the legislative work being done in the New England area on behalf of airline workers. 

James “Jamie” Wells is a well known Machinists Union activist and organizer whose work has taken him far beyond his home state of Massachusetts. Jamie began his career at Continental Airlines in 1993, and soon after became interested in political lobbying after a visit to the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s office. 

He put all his energy into union organizing and became one of the first Shop Stewards for his co-workers on the ramp at Boston Logan Airport in 2010. After the merger of United and Continental Airlines in 2011, Jamie continued his work as Shop Steward and was elected Vice President of IAM Air Transport Local Lodge 1726. He became a member of the District 141 organizing team that has worked in campaigns at Spirit Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta. Jamie continues his legislative work as Secretary-Treasurer of the Massachusetts State Council of Machinists and is also actively organizing and educating members in his role as MNPL and Legislative Education Director for the State Council.

Jamie shared his views on the current state of politics and labor issues and the resources available for activism, progress, and change in this week’s District 141 Video Report.    

Additional Resources /// IAM141.org/VOTE

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Keep Up the Pressure! Airline Worker Relief on Hold, But Momentum Growing

Keep Up the Pressure! Airline Worker Relief on Hold, But Momentum Growing

Oct 8, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, Hawaiian, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Perusals, Philippine, Row 2, Spirit, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

///This post originally appeared on GOIAM.ORG

We are closer than ever to save the jobs of tens of thousands of airline workers. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the IAM and our airline union coalition are making huge strides toward securing airline worker relief.

Unfortunately, House Republicans blocked a vote on the DeFazio-Larsen airline Payroll Support Program extension (H.R. 8504) Friday. Despite this setback, we expect further movement on this urgent issue.

“We are done being patient for Congress to act,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “Our members need relief and they need it now. We will keep the heat on our elected officials until the Payroll Support Program is passed and our members are back on the job. I am sick and tired of these politicians taking vacations while working people are on the street.”

“IAM members are fully aware of what is happening here and they will not to be used as bargaining chips,” wrote IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja in a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “They expect you to support them not with words, but with action. It is disgraceful to stand in the way of preserving airline workers’ jobs and watch their livelihoods become upended, their healthcare revoked and state unemployment programs become bloated beyond calculation.?”

Critically, H.R. 8504 requires airlines seeking aid to recall employees who were furloughed after September 30.

“Tens of thousands of airline workers stand on the brink of being fired, losing their certification requirements and seeing their livelihoods and financial security ripped away,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “Today, Democrats provided a path forward to avert catastrophe for these workers. Chairman DeFazio requested unanimous consent for his stand-alone bipartisan bill to extend the Payroll Support Program. Disappointingly, Republicans objected to the legislation.”

We must keep up the pressure!

Call your Representative at 202-224-3121 to urge them to support H.R. 8504, a standalone extension of the airline Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021, and to save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.

Read the IAM and airline coalition letter to every member of the U.S. House urging passage of H.R. 8504.

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U.S. Transportation Department Rules Masks Aren’t Mandatory on Airlines, Public Transportation

U.S. Transportation Department Rules Masks Aren’t Mandatory on Airlines, Public Transportation

Oct 7, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Page Five, Page Four, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Friday turned down a request by the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and its 33 member unions, including the IAM, for an emergency order requiring masks on airplanes, trains, and other forms of transportation.

“While this decision by the DOT is just a continuation of the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of our country’s frontline workers, the IAM will not stop fighting until this petition becomes federally mandated,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “We value the lives of all working people and will always champion any legislation that provides vital, life-saving measures.”

Many airlines in the U.S. and around the world are taking it upon themselves to ensuring passenger safety by permanently banning passengers who refuse to wear masks on flights.

“We applaud the airlines that are taking it upon themselves to ensure the health and safety of their workers, but their action alone is not enough,” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the government has failed in its most basic duty, which is to protect the American people. The federal government’s absence of leadership is staggering and a global embarrassment.”

“It is unfathomable that in the midst of a global pandemic which has killed more than 209,000 Americans, and left millions sicker and potentially facing lifelong side effects – including the president of the United States – that the U.S. Department of Transportation would outright reject such a simple, science-backed, lifesaving measure,” said TTD President Larry Willis. “It is beyond clear that COVID-19, and the public health crisis it has created, is not going away anytime soon. In the absence of real, federal leadership from the Trump Administration, transportation labor will continue fighting for the health and safety of our members.”

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October EAP Helping Hands Newsletter: Isolation

October EAP Helping Hands Newsletter: Isolation

Oct 5, 2020 | COVID, EAP, Featured News, Front Page, Helping Hands, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

EAP Peer Coordinators,

As the covid virus continues to affect all of us, we are starting to see the effects of isolation. Mental Health and substance abuse issues are beginning to surface in numbers we have not seen before. There are resources to help – and we can guide people to these resources! 

Anxiety and depression are also increasing. Not knowing how or when we will have an effective way to deal with the crisis as it continues is very difficult on many people. Again, the isolation is causing many people to experience mental health and substance use issues. As you notice people whose behavior has changed, work with your upline EAP to address each individual. This can make the difference of each individual dealing with a problem effectively or the problem becoming larger. 

Thank you for the work you are doing – I am very grateful for each of you! 

Bryan,

Bryan Hutchinson, M.S.

Helping Hands October Edition

The Employee Assistance Program is a compassionate, confidential, and free service that has helped hundreds of people cope with personal crises.

Download Helping Hands for October

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Watch This: Rep. DeFazio Calls Out Lawmakers Killing Airline Payroll Support

Watch This: Rep. DeFazio Calls Out Lawmakers Killing Airline Payroll Support

Oct 3, 2020 | Airlines, COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, Video | 0 comments

Watch as Rep. Peter DeFazio gets visibly angry when efforts to help reverse mass airline furloughs are killed.

After Republican leadership in the House of Representatives blocked a motion to pass legislation to provide emergency relief for airline workers, a clearly frustrated Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) took to the floor to call them out.

Congressman DeFazio, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has been a leading voice in efforts to advance payroll support for airline workers. In July, he wrote a letter calling for a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program that gathered the support of a bipartisan majority of Congress members. The letter was promoted by Machinists and Aerospace Union members nationwide.

Despite over 90,000 messages being sent to the House and Senate from airline workers over several months, lawmakers did not approve an extension of the PSP before it expired on September 30, and tens of thousands of airline workers are out of jobs as a result.

Additional Resources /// DeFazio Statement on Updated HEROES Act /// DeFazio Calls for Payroll Support for Airline Workers /// Contact Rep. Peter DeFazio 

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We’re Still Fighting: As Aid Talks Stall, Machinists Continue Calls for Immediate Airline Aid Extension

We’re Still Fighting: As Aid Talks Stall, Machinists Continue Calls for Immediate Airline Aid Extension

Oct 2, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

IAMAW Transportation Territory ///

The IAM is urging an immediate, standalone extension of expired airline worker relief, known as the Payroll Support Program (PSP). Tens of thousands of airline workers were furloughed at midnight on Thursday, October 1 after Congress could not come to terms before aid from the CARES Act ran out.

 

Reports on Thursday indicated that negotiations for an overall relief package remained far apart. Without consensus to help all Americans, the IAM is urging immediate passage of stand-alone legislation to extend the airline PSP.

 

Read the IAM’s letters to the House and Senate.

The IAM supports standalone PSP extension bills and urges House and Senate leadership to immediately pass the bipartisan Air Carrier Worker Support Extension Act, led by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).

 

“As negotiations continue today on a relief package, our members are now facing the grim reality of trying to survive during the global pandemic without a paycheck and health care benefits,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “We have long supported the bipartisan negotiations to pass a comprehensive relief package to help all American workers and affected industries through the economic distress of this global pandemic, but time has run out for airline workers that we proudly represent. It is past time for Congress to act. We must act now.”

 

Both American Airlines and United Airlines proceeded with more than 32,000 furloughs beginning Thursday. Both airlines have agreed to rescind furloughs if federal aid is approved in the next few days.

 

“How much more nonsense and political posturing must the working people of our country have to endure?” said IAM Transportation General Vice President Sito Pantoja. “Our members risk their health every day to move people and goods across this country. I encourage every Machinist to loudly let Congress know how you feel.”

 

Here’s how you can still help save thousands of airline jobs:

  1. Call your Senators and Representative at 866-829-3298 and urge them to pass an extension of the airline Payroll Support Program through March 31, 2021, and to save hundreds of thousands of frontline airline workers’ jobs.

     

  2. Tell your Senators and Representative to extend airline worker relief.
“We just need to make sure that people understand that we’re people,” IAM member Andrea’ Myers, a United Airlines Reservations Agent in Detroit, told the Washington Post. “We’re not just a number at United Airlines. We have families. We have things we have to get done.”

 

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