Letters: Vaccinations Are Happening

Letters: Vaccinations Are Happening

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Letters: Vaccinations Are Happening

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Letters: One Shot From a More Normal Life

I was able to get vaccinated on Sunday at the Clinic in Chicago. I got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but I would have been happy to get any of the approved vaccines that are available.  I would like to thank District 141 and United for helping to make this happen. 

There are three reasons I opted to receive the shot. First off, I do not want to get Covid-19. 

I have not seen my 89-year-old father since January of last year, and this separation has been very hard on our family.  My dad lives in a healthcare facility in SAN, and the risks to the residents were too great to allow visitors like me.

He has told me that the isolation that he has endured over the past year has been incredibly painful. He compares it to his experiences on the front lines during the Korean War. 

He has received both his shots and looks forward to seeing us in the very near future face to face once again. Now that I’m vaccinated as well, our family can be together, in the same place again. This is a major step towards getting back to a normal life.

I also enjoy traveling when it is vacation time. Wherever travelers want to go, getting there will be easier with a vaccination card in hand.

It’s been nearly 24 hours since getting my shot, and I have had no side effects at all. Not even a sore arm. If anything, I feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted from me, because it has. I urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as it’s your turn and help other people get vaccinated if you can. You won’t believe how good it feels to have this pandemic behind you. 

William Salo,
IAMAW District 141 Safety Director, United Airlines

Machinists, Congressional Allies Push for Vote on PRO Act

Machinists, Congressional Allies Push for Vote on PRO Act

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Machinists, Congressional Allies Push for Vote on PRO Act

The Machinists Union is applauding more than 100 members of Congress who are pushing for a quick vote on the PRO Act, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end anti-union policies that have hurt working people and unions.

U.S. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Andy Levin (R-MI) led a letter urging that the PRO Act be brought for a House vote.

“This legislation to empower our nation’s workers passed the House a year ago,” the lawmakers wrote. “Since then, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has sadly underscored the urgent need for workers’ ability to bargain collectively for safe working conditions, robust health care and paid leave, and pay that reflects their essential role in our society. We believe now is the time to move this important legislation across the finish line.”

TAKE ACTION: Tell your members of Congress to support the PRO Act

“The right to form a union without the threat of company intimidation or interference is denied to workers today,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “This bold piece of legislation modernizes federal laws and establishes a process for mediation and arbitration to help the parties achieve a first contract. It protects workers’ right to organize a union and bargain for higher wages and better benefits.” 

The PRO Act would:

  • Empower workers to exercise the freedom to organize and bargain.
  • Repeal “right to work” laws.
  • Ensure that workers can reach a first contract quickly after a union is recognized.
  • End employers’ practice of punishing striking workers by hiring permanent replacements. Speaking up for labor rights is within every worker’s rights—and workers shouldn’t lose our jobs for it.
  • Hold corporations accountable by strengthening the National Labor Relations Board and allowing it to penalize employers who retaliate against working people in support of the union or collective bargaining.
  • Create pathways for workers to form unions, without fear, in newer industries like Big Tech.
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Help IAM Members in Texas with a Donation to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund

Help IAM Members in Texas with a Donation to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund

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Help IAM Members in Texas with a Donation to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund

Unprecedented winter storms and below-freezing temperatures combined with rolling power outages created a disastrous and deadly situation in Texas and the surrounding area.

This part of the country rarely experiences extreme winter weather conditions such as this, making the circumstances even more dire.

IAM members whose homes sustained weather-related damages making them uninhabitable or in need of extensive repairs may qualify for assistance from the IAM Disaster Relief Funds.

If you participate in qualifying Union Plus programs, you may also be eligible for a one-time Union Plus $500 Disaster Grant. (use “Union Plus” in the link, and or their *graphic, see below)

Please keep our IAM Sisters and Brothers in mind during this critical time by donating to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund.

Every dollar you give to the IAM Disaster Relief Fund goes directly to IAM members and their families in need.

Donations are tax deductible. IAM Assistance is a registered IRS 501(3) (c) – Tax ID: 46-2575531 – (IAM Assistance (ID # 46-2575531) is an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.)

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Spotlight Interview: National Group Protection

Spotlight Interview: National Group Protection

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Protecting Airline Workers: Lou Raymond and Patrick Elias of National Group Protection discuss some of the ways that airline workers can be better protected during the pandemic. 

Spotlight Interview: National Group Protection

For more than 40 years, National Group Protection has offered insurance programs for the worksite environment.

As a national leader in developing and administering supplemental benefit programs, NGP is able to handle plan design, implementation, administration, and service. NGP is capable of offering a variety of supplemental benefit plans in all industries on a national level. With a team of licensed agents, NGP can enroll groups in all fifty states.

Machinists & Aerospace Union Members Provide Support for Veterans

Machinists & Aerospace Union Members Provide Support for Veterans

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Machinists & Aerospace Union Members Provide Support for Veterans

The IAM’s Veterans Services program is reporting a boost in recruitment. The program, which is under the union’s Retirees and Membership Assistance Department, was created in 2016 and continues its growth in popularity. Enrollment is up from 2,400 in July 2020 to 4,100 as of this February.

“Seeing an opportunity to increase interest and further expand the program, we wanted to ramp up our efforts by reaching out to everyone,” said IAM Retirees and Membership Assistance Director Ed Manhart, who manages the IAM’s military veteran outreach. “It’s the least we can do for their selfless acts of courage and sacrifices they made for our country.”

The program provides an extensive range of services such as the IAM Employee Assistance Program. It also offers help to veterans struggling with PTSD, mental health problems and/or substance abuse. Veterans can attend week-long seminars at the union-owned and operated Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Hollywood, MD. One particular segment of the training helps military veterans navigate through the often-complicated and difficult tasks of filing benefit claims with the federal government. All IAM membership services are free of charge.

The IAM encourages military veterans to enroll in the program by visiting its website or submitting paper applications. In early January of this year, the Veterans Services program launched the latest veterans outreach effort by sending packets of application forms to all IAM districts and locals across the country. The project is proving successful through an increased awareness, interest and participation in this valuable IAM member service benefit. 

If you’d like to register for the program, please visit the IAM Veterans Services page or sign up by way of tablet at your local or district.

 

Black History Month Spotlight: Derrick Monk

Black History Month Spotlight: Derrick Monk

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Honoring Black History Month: Brother Derrick Monk has provided a calm, guiding presence for members of IAMAW District 141 for over a decade. 

Black History Month Spotlight: Derrick Monk

We continue to celebrate Black History Month with a profile of Pastor Derrick S. Monk, Sr., Grievance Committee Chair, and Community Service Committee Chair of Local 1776.

In 2008, when he had been working at USAirways in Philadelphia International Airport for just over a year, Derrick had a “run-in” with a manager. He was so impressed with the work of Gil Simmons, Local 1776 Committee Chair at the time (now IAMAW Grand Lodge Representative), that he decided he would pay it forward. “The Union was there for me, and so I wanted to be sure to do my part to help my brothers and sisters in the union.”

His dedication to his Brothers and Sisters of the IAM and the larger Philadelphia community has earned him several awards and recognition.

Derrick grew up in a union household that took an active role in the struggle for civil rights and equal opportunities. A second-generation unionist, Monk follows in the footsteps of his father, who was a member of the United Auto Workers Union for more than 30 years. “He showed me the benefit of hard work, and how important it is to belong to a union and receive a union wage.”

As a young student, his parents enrolled him in a desegregation program where he was bussed to better-funded schools in northeast Philadelphia. He found his calling in the intersection of faith and activism and became an ordained minister. He currently serves as the Senior Pastor of the Divine Covenant Outreach Center in Philadelphia, in addition to many community service projects he leads. 

In 2017, our Brother Derrick received the Irv Sannit Labor Volunteer Award from the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania for his community service work with IAM Local 1776 and with the Solid Hearts Foundation, a non-profit he co-founded to expand the reach of his union community service work. The foundation provides emergency financial assistance and academic scholarships to families in need in the greater Philadelphia area.

Derrick Monk draws inspiration from the work of civil and labor rights leaders who came before him, and continues to pay it forward.