The IAM Air Transport Conference was held this year in Las Vegas during the week of August 19th.
This conference is held every two years and delegates from all Local and District Lodges in North America including Guam, Hawaii and Puerto Rico attended. Delegates discuss transportation issues in groups by topic and by country. Speakers from the transport industry as well as elected politicians talk about their experiences so that delegates can understand what is happening in the world outside of their workplace.
The IAM is very happy to report that we had a record number of delegates attend this year from Canada. This allowed for wider input and more meaningful debate on issues our members are facing.
The three-day event was full of information and Canadian delegates met together as a group. On the first day, General Vice-President Dave Ritchie started our Canadian workshops by speaking to the delegates about current issues members are facing across Canada. Next Carlos DaCosta, Airline Coordinator, gave a report on what is happening in transportation in Canada within the IAM, along with some industry data on what is happening in the Air Transport industry both in Canada and in the USA. After the presentations, delegates asked questions to get a better understanding of the issues and information given.
On the second day, there was a workshop on Political Action, where Gord Falconer, Grand Lodge Representative, updated the Canadian delegates on what is happening in our campaign to get members and union representatives to talk more openly about the political issues. Issues such as Bill C-377 and Bill C-525 were discussed including how it would impact us and our families. This is part of the Canadian IAM’s initiative to get members involved by understanding internal workplace issues as well as the political climate. Also discussed was the voting process in Canada, which could affect future elections.
Louis Erlichman, Canadian Research Director, also gave an update on the IAM’s pension both provincial and federal so that our members understand the details of these plans and what the IAM has to offer should they be interested in negotiating an IAM Labour Management pension plan.
On the last day, the Canadian delegates were split up into two groups. Team One consisted of Ground workers, such as Mechanics, Station Attendants, Aircraft Fuelers, Cargo and Baggage Agents. Some of the issues raised will be reported to District Lodge 140. Team Two consisted of Airport Screeners from both Toronto and the Pacific Region. They also discussed their issues and were preparing for a future National Screeners Conference, which would consist of members from both the IAM and United Steelworkers in Canada. Their report will also be sent to DL 140.
New Chief of Staff Stan Pickthall closed our workshop by making some final remarks and giving the delegates some encouragement and support from the Canadian IAM Grand Lodge.
According to the feedback received from the delegates in attendance, they felt that this conference was very successful in informing and preparing our members to deal with issues currently affecting them and the delegates will pass on the information received to their fellow co-workers back at their home station.
Carlos DaCosta
Airline Coordinator, IAMAW, Canada