Grand Lodge Convention Day 4
Greetings Brothers and Sisters,
Day 4 began with a video from the Mid-Western Territories.
Our first speaker of the day was from the Ending Violence Association, the Manager of Social Enterprises, Ashley Humphrys. Ashley found the passion that brought her to work with EVA BC through volunteering at a crisis line and working as a facilitator for violence prevention programs. She started her career in the for-profit sector where she worked in project management, communications, and human resources. In that work, she found she was able to drive philanthropy through the company and start many initiatives to support local non-profits and causes. The feeling of engagement and purpose she found through these efforts made her decide to pivot full-time to communications and prevention education work in the social services sector, specifically for efforts responding to gender-based violence.
After Ashley’s presentation, we moved to continue with the business we were working on Day 3. The Committee on the Law began presenting more Propositions. Note: For context, Propositions are direct changes to the IAM Constitution. A Resolution is an act of change but not with our governing document.
Our next speaker was Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su. Julie Su became Acting Secretary of Labor on March 11, 2023. She was previously confirmed by the Senate to serve as the deputy secretary of labor on July 13, 2021. As deputy secretary, she served as the de facto chief operating officer for the department, overseeing its workforce, managing its budget, and executing the priorities of the secretary of labor.
Before joining the U.S. Department of Labor, Acting Secretary Su served as the secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The LWDA enforces workplace laws, combats wage theft, ensures health and safety on the job, connects Californians to quality jobs and career pathways, and administers unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and paid family leave.
Su is a nationally recognized expert on workers' rights and civil rights who has dedicated her distinguished legal career to advancing justice on behalf of poor and disenfranchised communities and is a past recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant.
Next was the leader of the American Labor Movement, President of the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler. Shuler is the first woman leader of America’s labor movement. A visionary leader and longtime trade unionist, Shuler believes the labor movement is the single most powerful vehicle for progress and that unions are a central force in leading lasting societal transformations. She is committed to busting myths about labor, leveraging the labor movement’s diversity for innovative approaches to social justice, and making the benefits of a union voice on the job available to working people everywhere.
Liz started by thanking everyone for all the work that our Union is doing for the Labor Movement. She gave a passionate speech about how Unions are on the rise and how all the work we are doing is paying off.
She then went full-on campaign mode and only talked about how good Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the best candidates for the next election. She then only ripped apart the Trump campaign. Once again alienating anyone who disagreed with what was being said that Kamala was the best candidate for President. This moment felt like being at the DNC with the love for Democrats and the hate for Republicans.
A personal message from myself, Derrick Hernandez. As an Independent who likes to see both sides and make my choices based on my beliefs, this was very discouraging for how the Union can ever say they represent our members fully.
Next, the Committee on the Future took the stage for another round table discussion. They talked about Communication and Branding and they discussed Diversity. They addressed all this from the answers received from the 45 meetings in 29 cities they conducted. One of the most common things brought up was that Members don’t see the Union. They don’t see or know who our Union is and the leaders who are guiding us on the grand scale. This leads me to a joke I make during the onboarding process when I meet all new hires joining our Local at Lockheed, "We are the biggest Union you’ve never heard of.” Most of the rest of the discussion was all about branding and mentorship. We need our older members to help teach and inspire our younger members. Teach them how to get involved, teach them how to be great workers so we can all be employed, and teach them how to build a better future for themselves and the Union. This is similar to how I was mentored to be involved in the Union by our Secretary-Treasurer Brett Martin.
After a Lunch Recess we reconvened to continue with a video from the IAM Railroad Division.
Next, we welcomed the President of the Guide Dogs of America / Tender Loving Canines, Russ Gittlen. Russ Gittlen joined the IAM as a UPS mechanic and has been an active member for nearly three decades. He became a shop steward at UPS in 1990 and was appointed Business Representative in Lodge 447 in 2000.
Russ has actively supported Guide Dogs of America for many years, helping raise over half a million dollars for the number one charity at the Machinists and Aerospace Union.
Russ started by explaining about Veterans, the blind, and children with autism how they struggle in life, and how the mission of Guide Dogs is to improve their lives. He spoke of how Guide Dogs work with Prisons to rehabilitate prisoners to become wonderful members of society. Teaching them to train dogs, becomes their lifeline to become a better person and meaningfully contribute to society.
Russ then brought out Rosie O’Donnell as the next guest speaker.
Rosie spoke of her story of how she found the Guide Dogs of America and of her child with Autism. How she had no idea they had dogs for kids with autism. Learning about the Guide Dogs changed her life. Receiving that dog and going to the training improved her famili’s life forever and for the better. It wasn't for our Union if it wasn't for the Guide Dogs, she would have a very different life right now.
Next to speak was the President of the AFT, Randi Weingarten. She first started by stating after hearing Rosie speak, the AFT is all in with the Guide Dogs of America. Then she went into how the work Biden has done to save people’s pensions. The work the Union is doing to improve people’s lives. She then continued into the theme of talking about how Democrats are the only ones who support Labor and the only ones who support Unions. Once again a speech that makes people feel alienated if you don’t support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
We then moved on to continue doing business with the Committee on the Law to vote on more Propositions.
After pausing from more Propositions, we had another guest speaker, U.S. Representative in the House of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She started with her support of Unionization. She expressed her continued support of the Delta Workers at LaGuardia Airport trying to unionize and after showing her major support for Unions again, she then went on a Trump bashing campaign which turned into a Republican bashing campaign. She stated how we need to try and work together to turn the whole country blue to make sure we can pass all the pro-labor bills. She spoke and continued to speak well for the working class however many of the delegates in attendance did not come to the convention to only hear from and support only Democrat Candidates. The same issues would happen if we only had Republican Candidates, we would be equally upset. Our membership is made up of various people of all nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, and many more things that all make us unique one political party does not represent us all and it is unfortunate that many of our membership will feel as though their values are never represented by our Union on a grand scale.
To read more about her speech you can click the link below to go to the Internationals article.
We then moved on to continue doing business with the Resolutions Committee to vote on more Resolutions.
After many more Resolutions, the Women’s Committee addressed the delegate body before we recessed the convention for the rest of the day.
Thank You,
Delegates of 727p at the Grand Lodge Convention.
