The IAM 2026 Women’s and Young Workers Conference brought together nearly 500 participants from across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, for several days of education, solidarity and leadership development.

Hosted by the IAM Women’s and Young Workers Department under the leadership of Director Dee Colbert, the conference empowered members to strengthen their voices, develop new skills and help build a more inclusive labor movement. Workshops, panel discussions and plenary sessions addressed the challenges facing women and young workers while highlighting the critical role they play in the IAM’s future.

“This conference is about ensuring that women and young workers know they have a place, a voice and a future in our union,” said Colbert. “When we give our members the education, resources and opportunities they need to lead, they return home ready to strengthen their locals, organize their workplaces and lift up the next generation.”

The gathering also marked the 30th anniversary of the IAM Women’s Department, which was established after delegates passed a resolution at the 1996 IAM International Convention. Over the past three decades, the department has helped generations of IAM women develop their leadership skills and become more active at every level of the union.

IAM General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes, the highest-ranking woman in IAM history and the first Latina to serve in the position, attended the 1996 IAM International Convention as a delegate and was among the leaders who pushed for the creation of the IAM Women’s Department. Thirty years later, Cervantes reflected on the progress made while urging delegates to continue opening doors for those who follow.

“Thirty years ago, IAM delegates made a powerful commitment to creating greater opportunities for women throughout our union,” said Cervantes. “We honor that legacy by continuing to break barriers, mentoring others and making sure the women coming behind us have every opportunity to lead. We may be the first, but we must never be the last.”

The conference also placed a strong emphasis on developing young activists who will carry the IAM’s mission forward. Delegates participated in conversations about organizing, communications, political engagement, mental health and the issues affecting younger workers and LGBTQ+ members.

IAM International President Brian Bryant praised attendees for bringing their experiences, ideas and energy to the conference.

“The future of the IAM is being built right here by members who are ready to step forward, take responsibility and lead,” said Bryant. “For generations, women have helped shape this union through their courage, determination and solidarity. By investing in women and young workers today, we are ensuring that the IAM remains strong, relevant and prepared to fight for working families for generations to come.”

Throughout the conference, delegates heard from IAM leaders, labor activists and fellow members about the power of solidarity and the importance of building a union in which every member can participate and lead.

As the IAM celebrates three decades of its Women’s Department, the 2026 Women’s and Young Workers Conference served as both a recognition of the progress already achieved and a call to continue building a stronger, more representative union.

The message from nearly 500 IAM delegates was clear: the next generation of labor leaders is ready to organize, mobilize and lead the IAM into the future.

Photos – Registration

Photos Day 1

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Photos Day 3

Photos – Bling Fling Reception

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IAM Members Rally in Solidarity with Chicago Workers

The conference also moved beyond the meeting hall as IAM delegates joined labor and community allies for a Workers vs. Billionaires march and rally through downtown Chicago.

IAM members stood in solidarity with UNITE HERE Local 1 members fighting to secure a strong contract. The action reinforced the conference’s message that developing new leaders must go hand in hand with mobilizing members and standing with workers in their struggles for dignity, respect and economic justice.

LISTEN: WBBM-AM PRESS CLIP: IAM WORKERS vs. BILLIONAIRES

The rally also celebrated a landmark victory giving approximately 100,000 Illinois rideshare drivers a pathway to elect union representation through the IAM and SEIU Local 1 and bargain collectively for higher wages, improved benefits, stronger safety protections and fairer working conditions.

Led by IAM International President Brian Bryant and other labor and community leaders, participants delivered a clear message: working people are ready to stand together against corporate greed and organize for an economy that works for everyone.

Watch the Facebook Live stream.

See photos of the rally.

The post IAM 2026 Women’s and Young Workers Conference Celebrates 30 Years of Advancing Leadership appeared first on IAM Union.

IAM delegates attended the fall session of the Michigan State Council where attendees met political candidates who are courting labor votes and endorsements ahead of the 2026 midterms. Topics of discussion were housing prices, the rising cost of food and gas, and the White House’s tariff wars.

The post Fighting for Michigan Families at the Ballot Box appeared first on IAM Union.

National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) National President Randy Erwin joined the Federal Workforce Caucus and fellow federal labor union presidents at a press conference on Sept. 22, 2026, demanding Congress give the civil service a pay raise in FY 2027.

Led by Representative James Walkinshaw (D-VA), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the Federal Workforce Caucus hosted a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to advocate for a 4.1% pay raise for the civil service, as outlined in a bipartisan letter signed by 110 members of Congress.

“Federal workers are ordinary, middle-class Americans living in every corner of this great country,” President Erwin said in his remarks. “Regardless of where you live, they are your friends and neighbors, and like most people, federal employees just want to make a fair living and provide for their families. But for federal employees, that has become harder and harder to do.”

President Trump’s alternative pay plan, which imposes a pay freeze on most federal employees under the guise of a “national emergency,” provides federal law enforcement officers with a 3.8% increase and 5-7% for military personnel.

“If Congress permits the pay freeze President Trump has proposed, in a way that is clearly political retribution for some perceived offense most federal employees had nothing to do with, it will make recruiting and retaining the workforce the American people need next to impossible.”

Erwin concluded, “Congress: do the right thing and give all federal employees the pay adjustment they deserve.”

Photos

The post NFFE-IAM President Randy Erwin Joins Federal Workforce Caucus to Push for Civil Service Pay Raise, Oppose Pay Freeze appeared first on IAM Union.

A packed room of IAM delegates attended the fall session of the Kentucky State Council in Calvert City, Ky. Local political candidates, who are running for positions like local commissioner to U.S. Congress, courted coveted labor votes in the IAM. The keynote speaker was retired IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger who talked about the importance of electing politicians who look out for labor.

The post From Congress to County Commissioner: Kentucky State Council Urges Multilevel Political Power appeared first on IAM Union.

TCU/IAM members and community allies rallied in support Alvand Transportation bus drivers who are fighting for a fair first contract. Nearly 100 workers voted to join TCU/IAM more than two years ago and their dedication deserves to be matched with a contract that recognizes their value and work they do every day. 

A union contract is about more than words on paper — it’s about respect, dignity and having a seat at the table.

We stand with Alvand Transportation workers — their fight is our fight.

The post Two Years Too Long: TCU/IAM Alvand Workers Deserve A Fair First Contract appeared first on IAM Union.

Rebuilding America’s shipbuilding and repair industry will take more than new ships and modern shipyards. It will require investment in American workers, domestic supply chains, advanced technology, and the skilled union workforce that keeps the industry moving.

That message resonated as IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan joined industry leaders, policymakers, and maritime experts at the Hudson Institute’s Fixing Shipping and Shipbuilding: Plotting the Course Ahead symposium.

The event examined the bipartisan SHIPS for America Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), and brought together experts to discuss strengthening America’s commercial shipping and shipbuilding industrial base and rebuilding the nation’s maritime infrastructure and workforce.

Panel discussions focused on the shipyards and companies that will build America’s future fleet, the domestic suppliers needed to support them, investment in the industry, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and preparing the next generation of skilled shipbuilders.

For Sullivan, the discussion hits close to home.

A former IAM Local S6 shipbuilder at Bath Iron Works in Maine, Sullivan knows firsthand what it takes to build ships — and the importance of having skilled workers at the center of that work.

“I’ve spent time on the shipyard floor, so I understand what American shipbuilders bring to this industry every day. If we’re serious about rebuilding our maritime capacity, we have to invest in the people who have the skills to make it happen,” said Sullivan.

The SHIPS for America Act includes provisions aimed at rebuilding the U.S. shipyard industrial base while expanding recruitment, training, and retention of shipyard workers and mariners.

For the IAM, rebuilding the industry also means ensuring workers have a meaningful voice as shipyards adopt new technologies.

Recent negotiations at Bath Iron Works demonstrate the importance of that voice. IAM Local S6’s five-year agreement, ratified in August, includes protections related to artificial intelligence and robotics, safeguards for bargaining-unit work, and greater union involvement in workplace decisions.

As the conversation surrounding the SHIPS for America Act continues, the IAM will keep pressing for investments in American shipyards, domestic manufacturing, and the skilled union workforce needed to build the nation’s maritime future.

“American workers have the skills to build America’s ships,” said Sullivan. “The IAM will keep making sure they have a seat at the table.”

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The post GVP Sullivan: American Workers Are Ready to Build America’s Ships appeared first on IAM Union.

As strikers enter third week, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden faces massive financial losses, yet focuses on union-busting instead of addressing poverty wages 

Richmond, Va. – Resounding public support continues to power Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden workers as they enter their third week on strike, with reported attendance on Labor Day down by two-thirds.

In response to enthusiastic public support and the prospect of massive financial and operational losses for the employer, Lewis Ginter management has declined to resolve the strike in good faith at the bargaining table, and instead filed groundless legal claims in an attempt to forcibly bust the strike in court. 

Recently filed court documents from Lewis Ginter provide no documentation or evidence for multiple demonstrably false claims filed by the business in a bid to break the strike. IAM Union, which represents the striking workers, has filed a countermeasure in court to dismiss the employer’s meritless, bad faith litigation. 

“Lewis Ginter is hemorrhaging ticket sales and public goodwill because of their own bad behavior, and will continue as long as they refuse to bargain in good faith or pay living wages to their workers,” said Bill Haller, Associate General Counsel of IAM Union. “They need to do the right thing to resolve this strike, which is sitting down and negotiating fair wages with their employees, not filing bogus legal claims that misuse our court system in a cynical attempt to break the strike. Refusing to resolve the strike at the negotiation table is blatantly anti-union behavior and not in alignment with the values of fairness held by the Richmond community. Instead of making up lies to deflect from their actions and trying to take away their workers’ constitutionally protected right to protest, they should listen to their employees and the public, and end their practice of shameful poverty wages.”

The post Lewis Ginter Attendance Falls Dramatically as Community Staunchly Sides With Striking Workers; Management Files Groundless  Legal Claims to Try to Bust Strike in Response   appeared first on IAM Union.

The union’s ‘Workers vs Billionaires’ 2026 Midterm election tour is a first-of-its-kind push for the union and will bring union’s highest-ranking official directly to the doorsteps – and workplaces – of rank-and-file IAM Union members across the country 

Washington, D.C. – The International President of the powerful union representing 600,000 union members spanning many industries, IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), is launching a nationwide election tour to personally speak with members in eight battleground states in the union’s biggest national push yet for a Midterm election. The national election tour, called Workers vs. Billionaires 2026, is the largest-scale national political mobilization effort by the union to date; a reflection of the urgency that exists in our current political moment. 

“Working people across America are suffering profoundly right now as corporate greed skyrockets and billionaires buy access to bend the rules against us,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “The U.S. economy is being rigged against everyday people by robber baron tycoons and elites, creating an existential threat to our core American values of democracy, fairness, and freedom. American communities are being bled dry by billionaires who pit working people against each other, dividing us with artificial social fault lines so they can swindle us with economic injustice. The IAM Union will not stand back as basic worker protections are dismantled in this country. Instead, we’re launching our most aggressive election program yet, because the stakes are too high to not take unprecedented action.”

IAM Union is one of the most representationally diverse unions in the United States, composed of workers from hundreds of job sectors including aerospace, airlines, defense, manufacturing, public sector, healthcare, and more. A key component of Pres. Bryant’s 2026 Workers vs Billionaires nationwide tour will be having direct conversations in open forums with a wide range of members holding myriad political beliefs, bridging divides with populist values and unity. 

The tour includes multiple days of events each in Arizona, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, as well as Illinois. Mobilization activities will vary from state to state and feature non-traditional campaign venues like a Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans watch party tailgate and BBQ in Fort Worth, and will include a heavy program of worksite visits in all states. The close relationship many IAM members have to their union makes a personal touch from their International President vitally important in a traditionally low-turnout election year, and worksite access allows a rare opportunity to directly reach workers in key battleground states in a way that partisan campaigns cannot. 

The tour kicked off in Maine with joint appearances alongside Maine U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, where it will also conclude on Election Day. Pres. Bryant will be joined by additional IAM Union leaders from the national, state, and local levels at all stops, as well as federal and local officials, candidates, and community leaders. 

The post IAM Union’s International President Announces Sweeping Nationwide Tour to Activate Union Members in Eight Key Battleground States  appeared first on IAM Union.

The IAM is proud to announce that IAM Railroad Coordinator Brian Shanahan has been appointed Vice Chair of the Metra Board of Directors, expanding his leadership role in shaping the future of regional rail transportation in the Chicagoland area.

The appointment represents another significant step in Shanahan’s long career in railroading and labor leadership. It also continues his connection to Metra, where he began his railroad career more than 17 years ago.

Shanahan started as a clerk with Metra in 2008 and became a member of Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) Local 829. Throughout his career, he has held numerous leadership positions, including Local Chairman, Assistant National Representative, National Representative and National Vice President.

In January 2023, Shanahan was appointed IAM Railroad Coordinator, where he helps lead national rail strategy and advocacy on behalf of IAM Rail Division members.

As Vice Chair of the Metra Board, Shanahan will continue bringing his decades of railroad experience and labor perspective to discussions affecting Metra employees, riders and the communities served by the regional rail system.

“This is a tremendous honor,” said Shanahan. “Metra is where I got my start, and I’ve spent my career fighting for the rights of the people who keep our trains running. I’m proud to take on this new leadership role and to continue representing both workers and the riding public. I’m committed to ensuring the voices of working people are part of the decisions that shape the future of rail in Illinois.”

Shanahan also serves as a member of the Illinois High Speed Rail Commission and was appointed to the Will Kankakee Regional Development Authority by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Josh Hartford, IAM Special Assistant to the International President for the IAM Rail Division, congratulated Shanahan on his appointment as Vice Chair.

“Brian’s appointment to Vice Chair reflects the depth of experience and leadership he brings to the Metra Board,” said Hartford. “He understands railroading from the ground up and knows first hand the importance of safe, reliable public transportation to workers, families and communities. We’re proud to see him take on this expanded leadership role and continue bringing the perspective of working people to the table.”

The post IAM Rail Division’s Brian Shanahan Appointed Metra Board of Directors Vice Chair appeared first on IAM Union.

The IAM Midwest Territory and IAM District 77 recently came together in Minnesota for the inaugural Steve M. Galloway Memorial Golf Tournament, raising more than $27,000 for Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines (GDA | TLC) while honoring the life and legacy of a beloved IAM Union leader.

The tournament brought 70 golfers to Applewood Hills Golf Course in Stillwater, Minn., with more than 100 IAM members, retirees, family members, friends and supporters taking part in the day.

This year marked a new chapter for the District 77 charity golf tournament, which was renamed in memory of retired IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Steve Galloway. Galloway, who passed away in October 2025, dedicated nearly four decades to the IAM and delivered a lasting impact on the union through his commitment to service, solidarity and helping others.

View photos from the event here.

“Steve believed deeply in taking care of people, and this tournament represents so much of what he stood for,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “To see our IAM Union family come together in his name, while raising more than $27,000 for Guide Dogs of America, is a tremendous tribute to his legacy. I know Steve would be extremely proud of what everyone accomplished.

IAM District 77 Secretary-Treasurer Dan Wicklem played a leading role in organizing the tournament, coordinating the many details necessary to bring together golfers, sponsors, volunteers and supporters for the event

“Dan put a ton of work into making this tournament special and successful, and it showed,” said IAM Automotive Department Special Representative Andrew Peltier, formerly IAM District 77’s Directing Business Representative. “This event has always been about bringing people together for a cause bigger than us. Honoring Steve while supporting Guide Dogs of America made this year especially meaningful, and I’m proud of everyone who helped make it happen.”

Galloway began his IAM journey in 1986 as a member of IAM Local 459 and later served in numerous leadership positions with District 77 before joining the IAM Midwest Territory staff. He served as Midwest Territory General Vice President from 2019 until his retirement in 2024. Throughout his career, Galloway championed service to others and helped create the Midwest Territory’s H.E.L.P.S. program, which focuses on giving back to communities through volunteerism and charitable work.

In a fitting conclusion to the first memorial tournament, Galloway’s son, Sean, and his team took home the tournament championship.

The inaugural Steve M. Galloway Memorial Golf Tournament not only raised more than $27,000 for a cause near to the IAM Union family, but also began a new tradition dedicated to carrying forward Galloway’s legacy of service, compassion and bringing people together.

The post GVP Galloway’s Legacy Lives On at Inaugural Memorial Guide Dogs Golf Tournament appeared first on IAM Union.