The 600,000-member IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) applauds the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for enacting measures to protect American jobs, national security and the American shipbuilding industry with much-need relief measures.
Along with other allies in labor, the IAM helped lead a Section 301 petition to USTR and has worked collaboratively with allies and two administrations.
“The IAM Union is pleased to see meaningful remedies put forward to reinvigorate domestic shipbuilding,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant, who recently testified at the USTR’s hearing on Section 301 proposed remedies to China’s aggressive targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. “We will continue to work to ensure these policies are properly implemented so that we are successful in creating high-quality jobs for IAM members in the shipbuilding and ship repair industries.”
The USTR shipbuilding remedies include targeted fees on Chinese-built vessels when they dock at U.S. ports, and include higher charges for Chinese-owned and operated ships.
In January, IAM Union and its labor partners welcomed a comprehensive report from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) of its investigation on commercial shipbuilding and its findings that PRC engaged in a broad range of tactics designed to dominate and control the maritime, shipbuilding and logistics sectors.
The report illustrates how the PRC decimated U.S. shipbuilding, maritime and logistics capabilities, contributing to the loss of thousands of jobs. These illegal trade practices, including subsidies, preferential sourcing policies and unfair labor practices, also significantly weakened the nation’s economic and military strength.
In March, IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan joined U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) for a press conference at the IAM-represented Mare Island Dry Dock. The coalition called for action against China’s unlawful trade and promoted Garamendi’s SHIPS for America Act to help rebuild America’s shipbuilding industry and empower American workers.
“Today marks a major achievement for policy to reinvigorate domestic shipbuilding, but the IAM will continue to fight to make sure these policies usher in real results,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan. “We will continue to fight for high-quality shipbuilding jobs across the country and to advance this industry forward for the sake of economic and national security.”
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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