MTD IN THE NEWS | March 9, 2023

IAMAW International President Martinez Appointed to Biden’s Export Council

IAMAW International President Robert Martinez, Jr.

IAM International President and Metal Trades Department Vice President Robert Martinez Jr. has been appointed by President Biden to serve on the President’s Export Council, a U.S. governmental organization that serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade.

“It’s an honor to serve our nation, our union, and our membership in this important role,” said Martinez. “I’m extremely grateful to President Biden and the administration for giving the Machinists Union a voice on trade policy that affects the lives of millions of working Americans.”

The President’s Export Council provides a forum for private-sector business and labor leaders, members of Congress, and other administration officials to discuss and resolve trade-related issues.

“On behalf of the officers, members, and staff of the Metal Trades Department, I want to congratulate International President Martinez on this honor. His work on this council will help ensure millions of American workers have a seat at the table,” said Metal Trades Department President James Hart.

The Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO, applauds President Biden’s pick of Deputy Secretary Julie Su to replace outgoing Secretary Marty Walsh at the Department of Labor. Deputy Secretary Su has spent her career fighting for workers’ rights. She has a proven track record of implementing progressive policies to protect women and minorities in the workplace.

“The Senate has already confirmed her once and we urge them to do it again,” said MTD President Hart. “There is no one more qualified than Julie Su to defend the rights of workers.”

Echoing President Hart’s endorsement of Deputy Secretary Su were several Metal Trades Department Council leaders. IAMAW International President Bob Martinez, noted, “We know that as DOL Secretary, Julie Su will continue to champion unions as the answer to historically high inequality and aggressively take on employers that trample on the rights of workers.”

“Deputy Secretary Su has an excellent record of being a fierce champion for working people,” Iron Workers General President Eric Dean said. “Her previous work at CA LWDA made important progress in protecting ironworkers. Su has been an active and skilled hand in implementing President Biden’s priorities for over two years and has contributed to the agency’s historic labor partnerships.”

The Department also wishes to thank Secretary Walsh for his more than two decades of public service work on behalf of America’s working families. We wish him well as he embarks on new endeavors,” added President Hart.

Legislators in both houses of Congress have reintroduced legislation that would hold employers accountable for violating workers’ rights and secure free, fair, and safe union elections.

The Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2023, or PRO Act, introduced in the House by the Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) and in the Senate by the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was renamed in honor of the late AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to honor his legacy.

If passed, the PRO Act would increase remedies for violations of workers’ rights, enhance workers’ right to support secondary boycotts, ensure unions can collect fair share fees, modernize union elections, and facilitate initial collective bargaining agreements. The legislation would also make it more difficult for employers to classify their employees as supervisors and independent contractors, designations that would keep them from being covered under the National Labor Relations Act.

“The PRO Act is how we level the playing field. It is how we stop the intimidation, the lies,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “This is how we let workers, not wealthy corporations, decide for themselves if they want the power of a union.”

Show your support today. Tell Congress to Pass the PRO Act, sign the AFL-CIO’s petition at https://proact.aflcio.org/