Mary Sansom Has Receipts: A union activist who has recorded and made history

Mary Sansom Has Receipts: A union activist who has recorded and made history

Oct 16, 2020 | Community Service, Community Service Page, Education, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, retirement, Row 2, Safety, Video | 0 comments

“Shut ‘Em Down!”

Mary Sansom has fought for airline workers for decades, taking on managers, politicians, and even retirement on the way.

Sister Mary Sansom was initiated into Local 1833 of the Machinists Union in 1973 when she began working in the flight kitchen at Northwest Airlines in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One of her co-workers “dragged” her to local meetings, but she did not fully understand the value of union membership (among other things) until she was furloughed during a pilots strike 5 years later. She marks that as the beginning of her “union education” that has guided her through more strikes, airline mergers, and also many successes as a champion for working people.

Mary has served as Chief Steward and has been recognized for her work as a safety advocate. As the first woman to chair the Labor Division of the National Safety Council, she has received several awards for her service. She has represented Local 1833 in 5 Grand Lodge Conventions, where she earned the nickname “Shut ‘Em Down Mary” because of her strong criticism of airline mergers and the immense pain they inflict on workers. In 2006, she was recognized again by the Machinists & Aerospace Union as “Sister of the Month” for the United States.

During a turbulent period in the airline industry in the 1990s, Mary continued her advocacy work as a delegate to the IAMAW Legislative Conference and the Minnesota State Council of Machinists. She was elected Recording Secretary of Local 1833 in 2000, a position she still holds, even after her retirement in 2010. 

As a retiree, Sister Mary stays active as Recording Secretary for the Minnesota State Council of Machinists, is a founding member and serves as Recording Secretary for the Minnesota State Council Machinists Retirees, and is the president of the Local 1833 Retired Members Social Club.

We are pleased to welcome Mary Sansom to the District 141 Video Report.

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LAST CALL FOR THE CENSUS: Stand Up and Be Counted

LAST CALL FOR THE CENSUS: Stand Up and Be Counted

Oct 14, 2020 | Featured, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Row 2 | 0 comments

The US Census Bureau announced this week it will end all operations to gather data for the 2020 Census at 11:59 PM Hawaii Standard Time on Thursday, October 15, after the Supreme Court agreed to suspend an order from a lower court that extended the timeline for the national count.

What Happens Now?

If you did not receive a form in the mail from the Census Bureau, you can still respond via email or phone. Visit my2020census.gov to begin the process. It only takes 10 minutes, on average, to complete the questionnaire. You can also respond via phone at 844-330-2020. There is assistance available over the phone in 13 languages other than English. There are also guides and instructions available for download in 59 languages.

Data from the census is used to determine each state’s representation in Congress and in the Electoral College, and to guide the distribution of public funds. An undercount of the population can have a severe negative impact on any community, which stands to lose funding for education and school lunches, public transport, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, hospitals and health programs, the arts, and many other public works for ten years.

All information provided on the census is confidential and cannot be shared with another government agency, court, financial institution, or landlord. There are no questions on citizenship.

If you have completed the census, thank you! Please take time now to send a quick note to everyone you think may have let this slide in the face of so many challenges this year. Young families, renters, students, people with disabilities, and marginalized groups are historically under-counted, and they stand to lose the most.

We all count! Let’s put it in writing.

 

Be Counted

my2020Census.gov

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“Vote Early, Stay Safe” Pennsylvania Machinists Get Out the Vote on the Streets of Philadelphia

“Vote Early, Stay Safe” Pennsylvania Machinists Get Out the Vote on the Streets of Philadelphia

Oct 14, 2020 | COVID, Education, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Video | 0 comments

A small army of Fighting Machinists took to the streets of Philadelphia this week to encourage union members to get out and vote.

In-person early voting is underway in Pennsylvania, and members of IAM Air Transport Local 1776 left voting information on the doors of 1,030 union households in neighborhoods of South Philadelphia. The Machinists GOTV event was coordinated with the Pennsylvania State AFL-CIO, where Obie O’Brien, a member of Local 1776 serves as Vice President and IAM Representative. 

 

The IAM team, led by Local 1776 President Larry Reeves and former President Rich Howell, included Maurice Bonner, James Brown, Jason Custis, Milo Dabney, Elliot Eldridge, Tom Marshall, Andre Robinson, Troy Smack, Bill Zebley, and Dave Lehive, who is also a District 141 Communications Representative. 

“We were received very warmly in the neighborhoods where we worked. Several people thanked us for sharing information about how people can vote early and stay safe,” said Ines Garcia-Keim, President of the New Jersey State Council of Machinists, who joined the team with her husband John, a member of the American Federation of Musicians. “We are thrilled to be here to help the Machinists Union Get Out the Vote effort in one of the targeted states in the Eastern Territory,” she added.

IAM members may find information regarding our endorsed candidates, opportunities to volunteer, and other resources at https://iam2020.org/get-out-the-vote/, or by contacting your local’s president or legislative committee. 

 

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Supreme Court Nominee has Troubling Anti-Union Track Record

Supreme Court Nominee has Troubling Anti-Union Track Record

Oct 14, 2020 | Featured, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized, Video | 0 comments

The IAM Legal department is raising concerns about Amy Coney Barrett’s anti-labor record as a federal circuit judge.

“As a graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School, I know Amy Coney Barrett very well. Her positions and her approach to the law are actually a threat to American workers and other under-represented groups.”

-Laura Ewan,
IAMAW Associate General Counsel

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Airline Relief Update From GVP Sito Pantoja

Airline Relief Update From GVP Sito Pantoja

Oct 12, 2020 | COVID, Featured News, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Organizing, Page Five, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Uncategorized | 0 comments

As many of you are aware of by now, President Trump yesterday terminated negotiations with Democrats on a federal relief stimulus package, only to change course hours later to demand the House and Senate immediately approve $25 billion in new aid for the airline industry. 
 
Negotiating through Twitter is not real leadership or how a deal is made. This is a president using America’s frontline workers as pawns in his political endgame. Tens of thousands of airline workers’ livelihoods and their families, again, have been jeopardized because of pollical posturing by the president and the Republican Party.
 
There is strong bipartisan support for a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) in both the House and Senate, but a bill still has not been passed. Republicans in both chambers have nixed standalone bills that would have ensured the futures of our airline members.
 
With an unstable president who constantly changes his mind, the IAM calls upon Congress to put their differences aside to do what’s right for the American people. 
 
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.
 
 
In solidarity,
 
 
Sito Pantoja
General Vice President

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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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