Shift Change: A Conversation with IAM Union International President Brian Bryant

IAM Union: Hi, brothers and sisters. This is International President Brian Bryant. I want to welcome you to the first episode of Shift Change, the IAM Union's official podcast. The reason we're starting this podcast is one thing we've heard from our members, whether it's from a committee on the future meetings or shop visits that we do or local lodge meetings, state councils, whatever, we always hear from our members they want more communication with them. And this is what this podcast is it's an attempt. To do more communications with our members. It's just another tool that we can use to get our message out, to communicate with our members, have our members hear from their fellow members from around North America. And gives us just another avenue to make those make our members feel more welcomed in their union. Where we can introduce them to the leaders of this union, whether it's from our executive council, from our districts, to our locals, or even having our members on to talk about what's going on in their workplace, what's going on in their local important messages that we feel are important to this union so that our members know that they're all part of one big family and it's the IAM family. Our goal is not only to introduce our our members to their leadership, but to invite other union leaders onto this podcast so we can hear the views from other unions on what's happening in theirs. And really so that people can hear and our members can hear. How similar are our struggles, how our fights are the same with all working people. So we look forward to doing this podcast and exposing all of you to your union so you can learn more about it. The IAM has a great story to be told. We've had many fights and struggles since our founding in eighteen eighty-eight, and the same drive that led to our founding members forming the IAM still is there today with our members. The fight, the drive. if you look at the countless victories that we've had in the IAM, the successful contracts we've negotiated, the fights in Washington DC, the fights back in our home states, those fights that we've been there for our members that our members have won, it's important for us to share those stories with all of our members so that they can hear the great things that their union has done. We've had tremendous victories in the IAM. If you look at the Boeing strikes in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, St. Louis. Those were a big victory for the IAM. But it just doesn't start it's that's not the only victories. We've had many more. We've had many victories that didn't ha didn't take a strike. We just had a successful, very successful negotiations at Fort Worth, Texas with Lockheed Martin. And that's a story that needs to be told so everyone hears it. Because we have many, many big shops in the IAM. We have a lot of, you know, shops where we have thousands of members, but we also have shops where we only have fifteen, twenty fifty, a hundred members. Their stories are just as important as that those f members that are working in a two thousand or thirty thousand membershop. And that's what the goal of this podcast is to do is to bring us all together so we can hear all of all of the great stories, all of the great fights, all of the great battles, all of the great victories. So we can hear about learn about them. But also celebrate So one of the goals I wanted to do in this first episode of Shift Change is to introduce myself to our members. I've met thousands of our members, but we still have hundreds of thousands that I have not met personally. And this is my attempt to start that process where I can introduce myself to all of our members. So I'm just like all of you out there. I started in the shop. I started in with the IAM in 1989 when I got hired on at Bath Iron Works as a pipe fitter. we built I mean, we still build destroyers for the United States Navy. And I started in that shop just as a worker, just like all of our members. Coming to work every single day, doing my job. Love my job. Love being a pipe pipe fitter. Love my co-workers that I worked with and did that for a number of years. And then I started I thought about getting involved in the union. I started on our union safety committee at our local. And that got me started in the union. You know, that was an important committee at the shipyard that I came out of. It it had a lot of influence on the daily lives of our members. And that was really just the beginning where I got the a sense of what it was to be a union leader. And I always felt that n that I wanted to do more for our members. that led me to become a shop steward and then the local officer as a trustee and president of my local. and then I thought I could make my members' lives better, where I took on a district position. became director of our district where I continued wanting to strive to negotiate better contracts for our members, make sure our grievances would be in handle and such. I'm just like all of our other members out there. I came to work in an IAM shop. And then like many of our members, I decided to get involved in my union and play a role. So I'm no different than any of our members out there. I came from the same background, started in a shop. but saw I need but but also I wanted to get involved in the union to make it make it stronger, make it better for our members. And that continues today as your International president. My sole goal as the international president is to ensure that our members get the best representation that they can have, both at the both on the shop floor in contract negotiations, arbitrations. In Washington DC when we're when we need to deal with the politicians. on any type of legislation at the state houses and whatever. That's my goal as the international president, to strengthen our union. Cause when we strengthen our union, I know we can make our l the lives better for our members. And it's not just our our members, we can make the lives better for all working people. And that's one of the goals of this podcast. I hope there's non union workers out there that maybe if stumble upon this podcast and see that there's a way for them To get the same benefits that our members enjoy. So the other issue is our jobs. I know many of our members voted for President Trump. and that's okay. That's our democracy, that's a right. He said he was gonna bring back manufacturing to the U.S. That's not it what's happening. the US and Canada, we continue to lose good manufacturing jobs to Mexico, to other countries, you know, and that's another issue. We've got to stand up. And say that that's not going unnoticed. We s we still need to renegotiate USMCA because we still continue to lose thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs, namely in the aerospace industry, to Mexico. Because we have employers that are continuing to go and chase the cheapest wages and they know they can get in Mexico. so we s continue to lose jobs down there because there's no attempt, no attempt whatsoever from this government. To hold Mexico accountable, that they allow and provide for their workers in their country to have independent labor unions that can negotiate for them. And until we until we stand up as the US and demand that Mexico force employers to honor free trade we're never gonna be bring them the Mexican workers' wages up so that we're competing with them equally. and the only way to do that is it's gotta be put into the USMCA trade agreement. But the only way that gets done is your senator, your congressman needs to hear from you on that issue. So in this initial episode, you've heard from me, your international president Brian Bryant. but this podcast is gonna be more than that. This podcast is gonna bring on guests and leaders of our union so that you can hear from them. and see what they see for the direction of this unit, what's going on in their territory, what's going on in their local, what's going on in their shop, what's going on with their employer. Those are the stories you'll hear in the future episodes of Shift Change because that's truly our members. Our members every single day, seven days a week, go to work, and we couldn't think of a better name than Shift Change for the IAM Unions podcast. So stay tuned. We hope you subscribe. Pass it on to your sisters and brothers in your shop. Get the word out. And I promise you that future episodes of this podcast will be more enlightening, more productive. So we'll see you the next time on a future podcast of Shift Change. Stay strong, keep up the fight and solidarity forever. Your international president, Brian Bryant.