IAM International President Brian Bryant was recently a keynote speaker at the annual National Labor and Management Conference.
“We are the second largest union in organizing new members among our peers in the labor movement,” said Bryant. “The IAM has more organizers on the ground than we have ever had in the course of our union.”
The conference brings together leaders from labor, business, healthcare, pension funds, and employment law to discuss and inform attendees on a wide range of current matters.
More than 600 participants attended this year’s conference. It’s an opportunity to hear different perspectives that impact workers and management in an open forum where information can be exchanged, and interested parties can make their case on what is going to impact workers in the near future.
Bryant’s remark highlighted the IAM’s growth in non-traditional union trades like healthcare and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. The IAM’s partnership with AFT fostered a winning organizing campaign at Wexner Medical Center in Ohio, bringing more than 1,000 healthcare workers into the IAM.
Bryant also announced that the IAM has become the first labor union to be recognized by the Veterans Administration as a Veterans Services Organization, providing professional case representation for IAM military veterans at no charge.
During a question and answer session, Bryant gave a detailed response about the seven week strike at Boeing by IAM members from District 751 and W24, which resulted in a 40% wage increase over the next four years.
In response to a follow up question from the audience about the challenges of inflation and worker salaries, Bryant told the audience about fights the IAM sees in negotiations on established collective bargaining agreements with companies that have mismatched expectations.
“Companies want skilled trades, but they don’t want to pay skilled wages,” said Bryant. “President Trump’s administration has said it supports skilled workers and we’re going to see if corporations want to adhere to what this administration is saying.”
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