Have you Heard?

Nearly 15 years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became

law, the global recession is exposing a new dimension of the controversial

trade accord. Click to read on in English.

For Spanish click here.

Unions see biggest gain in members in 25 years

Union membership jumped to 12.4 percent of the work force last year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the ranks of organized labor rose by 428,000 workers - the biggest annual gain since the government began compiling such data in 1983. It's also the second year in a row that unions have added to their ranks. Membership rose by 311,000 members in 2007, to account for 12.1 percent of workers.

Overall, union membership remains well below the peak of 35 percent during labor's heyday of the 1950s. Membership was about 20 percent in 1983, the first year the bureau began compiling the numbers.

Article taken from Amarillo Globe News. Read here.

Organizing

Defending our Freedoms Defending our Jobs - The importance of organizing should not be lost on any member in the Machinists Union. Our future contracts depend on more of our members in each industry gaining power at work.

As each bargaining unit works towards an industry leading contract, each contract improvement leads to an increase in the contract at the next company, creating a constant cycle of improvement for working families.

Don't leave your friends, neighbors or community behind; organize them today.

If you are wanting to join the IAMAW click Join the IAMAW.

Who are we?

IAMAW represented workers belong to Local Lodges, which typically represent employees at one or more companies. The Local Lodges are affiliated with one of the District Lodges, which typically represent a larger geographic territory. IAMAW Headquarters, also known as the Grand Lodge, coordinates and supports the activities of the district and local lodges.

The IAMAW is a large and diverse organization, representing 730,000 members across North America. Each member makes a significant contribution to the success of the union. The mission of the IAMAW Headquarters is to help individual members realize that potential. The departments of the IAMAW mirror the diversity of the members that form the union. IAMAW Headquarters website is www.goiam.org

Local Lodge 1255 represent the workers for BNSF, Pantex, and TNM&O.  We belong to the Southern Territory which has nearly 100,000 IAMAW members in 21 District Lodges and more than 200 Local Lodges.

Visit the IAMAW's YouTube Page for the Machinists News Network.

The 2008 Convention website is online!

The site features updates, travel tips, convention news reports, info for the media, and official convention gear.