INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS. On May 5, 1888, Thomas W. Talbot, a railroad machinist in Atlanta, Georgia, founded the Order of United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers. Talbot and 18 others had been members in the KNIGHTS OF LABOR. Talbot believed that a union needed to be formed for railroad machinists that would resist wage cuts. He wanted to provide insurance against unemployment, illness, and accidents but also wanted railroad machinists to be recognized for their craft skill. Unlike the Knights of Labor, who accepted everyone, Talbot's union accepted only white U.S. citizens, preferably native-born. The union excluded blacks, women, and non-citizens, and had secret passwords. Despite the secrecy, the order spread beyond Georgia, in part due to "boomers", men who traveled the railway lines for work and established local lodges in new areas. Within one year there were 40 lodges, and by 1891, there were 189.

On May 6, 1889, the organization's name was changed to the National Association of Machinists (NAM) and a constitution was written. The NAM began publishing the 16-page Machinists Monthly Journal. Frank French designed an emblem for the union consisting of a flywheel, a friction joint caliper, and a machinist's square with the initials of the organization. The flywheel represented the ongoing power of the union once it started, and the caliper signified an extended invitation to all persons of civilized countries. The square signified that IAM was square and honest.

In 1890 and 1891, NAM reached Canada, making Canadians the first international members. Locals were also formed in Mexico. To reflect this, in 1891 the name was changed from National Association of Machinists to International Association of Machinists (IAM), at a conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1892, IAM signed a contract with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, establishing the first organized shop at a railroad in the United States. Because IAM had a color bar, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) did not immediately accept IAM. After IAM did join the AFL, AFL President Samuel Gompers urged IAM to drop its whites-only rule. But IAM maintained racial segregation, arguing that it needed to retain southern members. IAM President Talbot wanted the union to be a fraternity of white men born in the United States who possessed good moral character.

The Machinists' membership reached 300,000 during WORLD WAR I which made it the largest union in 1918. As the war ended and wartime production came to an end, membership dropped to 80,000 in 1923. Membership declined in 1933 to only 50,000 due to the GREAT DEPRESSION. Of those 50,000 members, 23,000 workers were unemployed. In 1935 the machinists started to organize with the airline industry. In 1936, the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington signed the industry's first labor agreement. By 1938, the IAM negotiated the first union agreement in air transportation with Eastern Air Lines. In 1944 IAM union members established an education department to publish a supplemental journal. This would be published weekly by the Machinist the IAM newspaper. Eventually the journal's production was cut back to twice a year and was voted out of existence in 1956. It was replaced with a quarterly magazine entitled The IAMW Journal.

The failure of the AFL to settle a jurisdictional dispute between IAM and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America as well as the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America led the IAM to disaffiliate with the AFL in 1945. In 1947 Congress passed the Taft Hartley Act, officially known as the Labor-Management Relations Act, which placed restrictions on union activities. This act also contained provisions that made closed shops illegal and outlawed boycotts. The second section of the Taft Hartley Act was controversial because it allowed states to pass right-to-work laws, which enabled them to regulate the number of union shops. The machinists worked with AFL unions to repeal the act. The limitations imposed on union political activity by this act led to the creation of the Machinists' Non- Partisan Political League. In 1948, Lodge 751 went on strike against the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. The machinists preserved longstanding seniority rules that the company wanted to abolish and achieved a 10% per hour raise. IAM also competed for members with the United Auto Workers of America in the automotive industry and with the United Aerospace Workers for aircraft working in that union. In 1949, IAM signed no-raiding agreements with both unions. Those agreements become the model for other unions when AFL and the CIO merged in 1955.

The 1950s was a period of rapid growth for IAM. The production of jet engines during the war led IAM to expand to the aircraft industry. By 1958, IAM had more than 900,000 members. IAM took steps to begin to move away from its racist past. In 1955, under the leadership of President Al Hayes IAM became more of an industrial union; it began to shift from railroad work to metal fabrication. Because IAM had more union members as well as workers in the aircraft industry, aerospace workers were attracted to join IAM. The trade union produced a first-of-its-kind radio show, "Boomer Jones," to tell their history in a modern way.

In 1964, IAM changed its name to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. IAMAW strikes against five major airlines, including Eastern, National, Northwest, Trans World, and United Airlines grounded the airlines for 43 days finally winning 5% raises in three successive years. IAM membership nearly doubled in the 1950s due to the growing airline industry. As a result of the new members, the delegates voted to change the name to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at the 1964 convention. In 1982, due to individual and corporate bankruptcies IAM membership dropped to 820,211 members from a high of 927,000 in 1973.

The Transportation Communications International Union (TCU) merged with the IAM, after a TCU member vote in July 2005.

In December 2013 the union's attempt to represent workers at an Amazon.com fulfillment center in Middletown, Delaware failed.

The 1948 Dubuque Classified Business Directory listed 111 W. 6th.

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Source:

"International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers," Wikipedia, Online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Association_of_Machinists_and_Aerospace_Workers