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.
