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IAM History
1888: 19 machinists meeting in locomotive pit at Atlanta,
GA, vote to form a trade union. Machinists earn 20 to 25 cents
an hour for 10-hour day.
1889: 34 locals represented at the first Machinists
convention, held in Georgia State Senate Chamber, elect Tom
Talbot as Grand Master Machinist. A monthly journal is started.
1890: First Canadian local chartered at Stratford,
Ont. Union is named International Association of Machinists.
Headquarters set up in Richmond, VA. Membership at 4,000.
1891: IAM Local 145 asks $3 for a 10-hour day.
1892: First railroad agreement signed with Atcheson,
Topeka & Santa Fe.
1895: IAM joins American Federation of Labor (AFL),
moves headquarters to Chicago.
1898: IAM Local 52, Pittsburgh, conducts first
successful strike for 9-hour day.
1899: Time-and-a-half for overtime has become
prevalent. Headquarters moved to Washington, D.C.
1903: Specialists admitted to membership. Drive begins
for 8-hour day.
1905: Apprentices admitted to membership. There are
769 locals. Railroad machinists earn 36 to 43 cents an hour for
9-hour day.
1908: Metal Trades Department established within AFL
with IAM President James O''Connell as president.
1911: Women admitted to membership with equal rights.
1912: Railway Employees Department established in AFL
with Machinist A. O. Wharton as President.
1914: Congress passes Clayton Act limiting use of
injunctions in labor disputes and making picketing legal.
1915: IAM wins 8-hour in many shops and factories. IAM
affiliates with International Metalworkers Federation.
1916: Auto mechanics admitted to membership.
1918: IAM membership reaches 331,000.
1920: Headquarters moved to first Machinists Building,
at 9th & Mt.Vernon Pl., N.W., Washington, D.C. British
Amalgamated Engineering Union cedes its North American locals to
IAM.
1920: Machinists earn 72 to 90 cents an hour for
44-hour week.
1922: 79,000 railroad machinists pin shopmen's strike
against second post-war wage cut. Membership declines to
148,000.
1924: IAM convention endorses Robert M. LaFollette,
Sr., for President.
1926: Congress passes Railway Labor Act requiring
carriers to bargain and forbidding discrimination against union
members.
1927: IAM urges ratification of Child Labor Amendments
to U.S. Constitution; 2,500,000 children under 16 are working at
substandard wages.
1928: 250 delegates at 18th IAM convention urge 5-day
week to alleviate unemployment.
1929: Depression layoffs cut IAM membership to 70,000.
1932: Congress passes Norris LaGuardia Act banning use
of court injunctions in labor disputes.Wisconsin adopts first
unemployment insurance act. Nearly 30% of union members are
jobless.
1933: IAM backs National Recovery drive and 40-hour
week. FOR picks IAM Vice President Robert Fechner to head new
Civilian Conservative Corps. Membership sinks to 56,000.
1934: IAM establishes Research Department.
1935: Congress adopts National Labor Relations Act
establishing right to organize and requiring employers to
bargain in good faith. IAM opens drive to organize aircraft
Industry.
1936: First industrial union agreement signed with
Boeing, Seattle. IAM convention endorses FDR for President.
Membership climbs to 130,000.
1937: Social Security and Railroad Retirement Acts now
in operation. IAM negotiates paid vacations in 26% of its
agreements.
1939: IAM signs first union agreement in air transport
industry with Eastern.
1940: Machinists rates average 80 cents an hour. IAM
pledges full support to National Defense program. IAM membership
climbs to 188,000.
1941: IAM pledges hail support to win the war
including no-strike pledge.
1944: 76,000 IAM members serve in armed forces. Total
membership now 776,000.
1945: First agreement with Remington Rand. IAM
convention votes to establish weekly newspaper, education
department. Widespread layoffs follow end of World War II.
1946: 88% of IAM agreements now provide for paid
vacations.
1947: Congress enacts anti-union Taft-Hartley Act.
Machinists Non-Partisan Political League founded. IAM Legal
Department established. Machinists average $1.56 an hour.
1948: IAM membership opened to all regardless of race
or color.IAM convention endorses Harry Truman for President.
1949: Railroad machinists win 40 hour week. Membership
down to 501,000.
1950: IAM joins International Transport Workers
Federation. Machinists now average $1.82 an hour.
1951: IAM pledges full support of UN action in Korea.
1952: Employees on 85% of airlines now protected by
IAM agreements. 92% of IAM contracts provide for paid holidays.
1953: IAM has contracts fixing wages and working
conditions with 13,500 employers. IAM Atomic Energy Conference
organized.
1955: AFL and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(CIO) merge, Machinist Al Hayes elected Vice President and
chairman of Ethical Practices Committee. 70% of IAM contracts
now have health and welfare provisions. Machinists average $2.33
an hour.
1956: 2,000th active local chartered. New ten story
Machinists Building dedicated at 1300 Connecticut Ave.,
Washington, DC.
1958: IAM convention establishes a strike fund which
was approved by the membership in a referendum vote. IAM
membership now tops 903,000.
1959: Congress enacts anti-union Landrum-Griffin Act.
1960: IAM convention endorses JFK for President after
personal visits from both Kennedy and Richard Nixon. IAM
convention establishes college scholarship program. IAM
establishes Labor Management Pension Fund.
1962: IAM Electronics Conference established. JFK
issues Executive Order giving Federal employees a limited right
to collective bargaining. Machinists now average $3.10 an hour.
1964: IAM convention endorses LBJ for President, after
a personal appearance. Delegates vote to change name to
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Membership at 800,000.
1966: IAM members strike five major airlines and
finally break through unfair 3.2% limit on wage increases. First
dental care plan negotiated with Aerojet General.
1967: Railroad machinists lead shopcrafts against
nation's railroads. Congress forces return to work and
arbitration.
1968: IAM membership tops 1,000,000. Machinists
average S3.44 an hour.
1969: IAM member, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, the first space
mechanic walks on the moon.
1970: Congress votes first Federal Occupational Safety
and Health law. IAM is one of 19 unions in first successful
coordinated bargaining effort against GE.
1971: IAM wins biggest back pay award in history, more
than $54,500,00 for 1,000 members locked out illegally by
National Airlines. IAM establishes Job Safety & Health
Department.
1972: IAM membership drops to 902,000 as a result of
recession and layoffs in defense industries. IAM President Floyd
Smith quits U.S. Pay Board to protest unfair economic policies.
IAM convention endorses Sen. George McGovern for President.
1973: IAM and UAW hold first joint Legislative
Conference with 1,000 delegates in attendance. Machinists
average $4.71 an hour. Membership rises to 927,000.
1974: Watergate scandal cast its shadow over labor
unions along with the rest of the country. When President Nixon
resigned, IAM wired President Gerald Ford, "You can count on our
support and cooperation in your efforts to bring America back to
the principles upon which it was founded."
1976: IAM convention endorses Jimmy Carter for U.S.
President., Delegates vote to set up Civil Rights and Organizing
departments and expand community services program.
1977: William W. Winpisinger sworn in as the lAM's
11th president.
1979: Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition launches first
Stop Big Oil day to protest obscene profits by oil conglomerates
while American workers'' paychecks continue to shrink.
1980: IAM media project begins. Thousands of IAM
members and their families monitor prime time TV to determine
media's portrayal of working people and unions.
1981: Older Workers and Retired Members Department is
established at Grand Lodge.
1982: Reaganomics grips nation. Individual and
corporate bankruptcies reach epidemic proportions. IAM
membership begins drop to 820,211.
1983: IAM introduces ''Rebuilding America'' act to
Congress as alternative to Reaganomics and to rebuild nation’s
industrial base.
1984: IAM convention in Seattle WA, endorses Walter
Mondale for U.S. President. Delegates vote funding for Placid
Harbor Education Center to improve the level of understanding of
workers in an ever changing world.
1987: IAM Executive Council establishes new Organizing
Department, the first ever to be headed by a Vice President.
First IAM Communications Conference convened in Kansas City, MO.
1988: IAM celebrates 100th anniversary in Atlanta, GA,
on May 5.
1989: George J. Kourpias sworn in as the IAM's 12th
president.
1992: IAM moves to new state-of-the-art headquarters
building in Upper Marlboro, MD, to keep pace with technological
changes and serve members'' needs well into 21st Century; IAM
convenes 33rd convention at Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1994: International Woodworkers of America ratify
merger agreement. More than 20,000 members join IAM family. Some
8,000 USAir fleet service workers say "IAM yes." Machinist
newspaper bids fond farewell, reborn as IAM Journal magazine.
1995: IAM, Auto and Steelworker unions debate plans
for unification by year 2000. Unity plan sparks solidarity. Plan
would create largest, most diverse union in North America, with
more than 2,000,000 active members, 1, 400, 000 retirees.
Sixty-nine day strike brings major victory in new contract at
Boeing. Members air their views during first round of Town Hall
meetings.
1996: ‘Fighting Machinists'' spearhead political
battle for worker rights. Union efforts provide winning edge in
Clinton-Gore presidential victory. Meeting in Chicago, IAM
Convention delegates build bridge to 21st century. Delegates
establish IAM Women's Department.
1997: On July 1, Robert Thomas Buffenbarger,
46, takes office as 13th International president in 109-year IAM
history, moves quickly to reshape Union to reflect growing
diversity, interests, concerns of IAM members. Former IAM
President Winpisinger dies Dec. 11.
1998: New Blue Ribbon Commission empaneled
to provide membership forum to voice opinions. Placid Harbor
facility renamed Winpisinger Education and Technology Center to
honor visionary union leader, who brought the facility into
being.
1999: General Vice President William Scheri
retires, Robert Roach, Jr. takes over the Transportation
Department. IAM Shares mutual fund created; llows members to put
money to work in a fund that invests in IAM-represented
companies. The National Federation of Federal Employees
affiliates with the IAM. Unification effort with the
Steelworkers and UAW ends because of major philosophical
differences; the three unions vow to work together, however.
2000 : The IAM endorses Al Gore for
President. The AFL-CIO launches its New Alliance campaign, Grand
Lodge Convention delegates respond with mandate that all IAM
local and district lodges affiliate with their state AFL-CIO
labor councils.The IAM meets in San Francisco for the 35th
Grand Lodge Convention. The delegates establish Communicator and
Educator positions.
2001: IAM Communications revamped with
relaunch of website, online streaming of video, and
repositioning of the IAM Journal as an advocacy
magazine. IAM Executive Council reelected. William W.
Winpisinger Education & Technology Center increases capacity by
50%. IAM Dedicates memorial to fallen members. IAM members
perish in September 11 attack. The IAM volunteers to help in war
against terrorism and to help America rebuild.
2002: The IAM establishes the Automotive
Department and sets in place dozens of organizing blitzes. LL
2710's Gary Blanke wins the IAM's first photography contest.
Members speak out at the 2002 Blue Ribbon Commission town hall
meetings. Everyday Heroes, an IAM documentary, which
tells the story of the workers who risked their lives in the
aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, goes on sale. The proceeds go to
treat rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero. The
Transportation Department ignites a nationwide Day of Action to
urge passengers back onto trains and airplanes. IAM members join
with other U.S. union members for the biggest midterm election
turnout ever.
2003: The IAM creates the Department of
Employment Services to help members cope with the worst
recession in years; Tony Chapman named its director. IAM leaders
meet in Cincinnati, Ohio. IP Buffenbarger vows "No more business
as usual." Presidential candidates Howard Dean and Richard
Gephardt address the IAM leaders; Gephardt endorsed for
president. GVP George Hooper passes away. Robert Martinez named
Southern Territory GVP. ST Don Wharton Retires, Eastern
Territory GVP Warren Mart succeeds Wharton. Lynn Tucker takes
over as the Eastern GVP. James Brown takes over the Midwest
Territory with the retirement of Alex Bay.
2004: The IAM Executive Council marches with
thousands of trade unionists in Miami to protest Free Trade Area
of the Americas. President George W, Bush's "Wall of Shame"
tours Iowa during that state's presidential caucuses to bring
job losses onto the national radar screen. CyberLodge, the
innovative, open-source initiative to organize information
technology workers opens for business. Former IAM President
William W. Winpisinger is inducted into the International Labor
Hall of Fame. The 36th Grand Lodge Convention convenes in
Cincinnati and salutes North America's Might. Vice presidential
candidate Senator John Edwards from North Carolina appears at a
convention rally after a unanimous endorsement of Senator John
Kerry and Senator Edwards by the delegates.
A more in-depth history of the IAM
History
IAM History Archive
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