The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), which represents around 600,000 members in North America, has urged the U.S. Trade Representative to improve labor enforcement and job protections as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review.
In comments submitted for the USMCA’s required six-year joint review, the IAM Union stated that weak labor enforcement in Mexico and insufficient rules of origin are putting union jobs in the United States and Canada at risk. The union previously opposed both NAFTA in the early 1990s and the USMCA when it was adopted in 2019.
“The USMCA promised to lift standards for workers across North America, but too many companies are still chasing low wages and weak enforcement,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant. “It’s time for a trade policy that defends North American manufacturing, protects our workers, and ensures that every product bearing the USMCA label is truly made under fair conditions.”
The union’s filing called for expanding the Rapid Response Mechanism to protect more workers’ rights in Mexico, extending Labor Value Content requirements to sectors such as aerospace and shipbuilding, and tightening rules of origin so non-USMCA content does not enter duty-free supply chains.
The IAM Union’s submission noted: “Unfortunately, our concerns about USMCA have proven to be accurate: Mexican industrial wages remain lower than those in China, and offshoring of well-paid U.S. jobs continues, including many in the aerospace sector. Indeed, since USMCA was enacted, we have seen further erosion of good, middle-class, union jobs in the United States. In order to prevent this from continuing, we need to take vigorous action on a number of fronts during the upcoming review.”
IAM Union members work across industries including aerospace, airlines, defense manufacturing throughout both the United States and Canada.
The IAM Union describes itself as one of North America’s largest industrial trade unions with representation spanning multiple sectors such as healthcare, automotive, transit systems as well as traditional manufacturing fields.
