By Doug Cunningham

More than five thousand International Association of Machinists workers are into the second week of their strike against Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita and Salinas, Kansas. Health care, pensions and sick leave for new workers are among the issues. Striker Ralph Polly says workers have to put up a fight against takeaways that are creating a bleak future for the next generation of workers.

[Polly]: "My main reason to be here is for the people that's gonna come here after me. It's just been take away, take away, take away and I think it's time we all take a stand and try to reverse this."

By Doug Cunningham

Canada’s CTV News says a senior economic advisor to Barack Obama’s campaign phoned the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. and told him that Obama’s anti-NAFTA statements are just campaign rhetoric not to be taken seriously. CTV says Austan Goolsbee, a free trader economist at the University of Chicago, made the call. Rick Sloan of the International Association of Machinists says it’s outrageous.

[Sloan]: “I think this story has such powerful resonance that if it’s out people are going to stop and say wait a second. Now, he tells us one thing, but before he tells us that he signals the Canadian government that it’s only just campaign rhetoric? That’s unconscionable.”

By Doug Cunningham

Union leaders representing 90,000 flight attendants are meeting in Washington for a three-day bargaining summit. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, Transport Workers Union and the International Association of Machinists are preparing an overall strategy to try to secure gains in upcoming contract after years of deep concessions imposed through bankruptcies.

By Doug Cunningham

Congress could decide in as little as 60 days on who gets a huge new military contract to build refueling tanker planes. Vying for the contract are Boeing and Eads - the French company that makes Airbus. Richard Mihalski of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers says more than 40,000 good U.S. manufacturing jobs are at stake.

[Mihalski]: “We have been talking to members of Congress informing them of just what kind of jobs are in their individual districts and what it means to them to have a healthy, vibrant, robust aerospace industry here in the United States."

By Doug Cunningham

The United Steel Workers says almost 9,000 retirees, spouses and surviving spouses will get lump-sum payments of up to $600 this year from a health benefits trust fund. The fund was established for former employees of Kaiser Aluminum when Kaiser went bankrupt. The benefit is about equal to $50 monthly Medicare Part B premiums. The trust fund was set up in 2004 to restore prescription drug coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees. The retirees were represented by the USW, the UAW, United Food and Commercial Workers and the International Association of Machinists.

Three Democratic candidates are now campaigning in Iowa with major labor endorsements. Jesse Russell has a look:

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd was the first to receive a labor nod coming from the International Association of Firefighters. New York Senator Hillary Clinton has recently picked up the endorsements from both the International Association of Machinists and the United Transportation Union. In a unique move the Machinists also endorsed a Republican candidate – former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Huckabee was the only Republican candidate who agreed to speak at the Machinists recent convention. And just in time for Labor Day, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards picked up two major union endorsements – from the United Steelworkers and the United Mineworkers of America. Edwards had already received an endorsement from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

By Jesse Russell

In a major blow to former Senator John Edwards – the International Association of Machinists endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for President on Thursday. Edwards had expected to pick up the labor endorsement from the 700,000 strong industrial trade union. According to IAM President Tom Buffenbarger the union chose Clinton because “she is the only candidate of either party to come forward with a comprehensive manufacturing policy.” The Machinists also endorsed Republican candidate former Arkansas candidate Mike Huckabee.

NASA has been hit with a lawsuit from workers represented by the International Association of Machinists. The suit claims that NASA interfered in contract negotiations with the United Space Alliance. The suit claims that NASA violated the Service Contract Act by telling United Space Alliance that it would not reimburse for increased labor costs resulting from the negotiations. The Alliance is a joint venture of Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, and supplies launch services to NASA. According to federal labor law, federal agencies are supposed to remain neutral during contract negotiations.

By Jesse Russell

Steve Greenhouse reports in the New York Times that one union is taking a unique approach to Presidential endorsements – they plan to endorse candidates from both parties. The 410,000 member Machinists union told the Times that the move will improve the union’s ties with the 35 percent of members who vote Republican. They also hope it could help improve ties to the White House in the event a Republican is elected.

Harley workers in Kansas City have approved a contract that will see raises and no monthly payments by workers toward healthcare. Jesse Russell reports:

By Jesse Russell

More than 800 workers at the Kansas City Harley Davidson will be seeing a wage increase of at least 3.5 percent annually for the next five years. Represented by the International Association of Machinists and the United Steelworkers, workers will also not have to pay a monthly health-care premium. The workers were able to avoid paying a premium by allowing the company to raise the policy’s deductible. Last February a three week strike at a Harley plant in York, Pennsylvania resulted in a contract that included a two-tier wage system – such a system was not implemented in Kansas City.

Space shuttle program workers walked off the job on Thursday after they failed to reach an agreement with the United Space Alliance. Jesse Russell reports:

By Jesse Russell

United Space Alliance is NASA’s largest contractor at the Kennedy Space Center and those workers, 570 of them, are now off the job. Represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, the employees are unhappy with company proposals concerning health care and wages. According to the IAM the current Atlantic shuttle mission will not be impacted by the strike as shuttle recovery workers represented by the union will stay on the job until after landing. Meanwhile, the Alliance has said it will bring in nonunion replacement workers if the strike is not resolved soon. IAM Local 1061 President Lew Jaimeson said that when this contract proposal is compared to other contracts in the aerospace industry, Alliance workers are “at the bottom.” He said the union has “given back for nine years” and “enough is enough.”

By Doug Cunningham

International Association of machinists and Aerospace Workers locked out at AK Steel in Ohio for over a year have ratified a new labor agreement. It includes pay raises and a company contribution to the union’s multi-employer pension plan.

By Doug Cunningham

By voting to strike rather than accept concessions Harley-Davidson workers in York, Pennsylvania won a wage increase without having to pay any health insurance premiums. Wage rates for new hires will stay the same instead of being lower as Harley had demanded. Members of the International Association of Machinists have voted to ratify the tentative agreement. The IAM’s Tom Boger says this contract agreement is much better than the company proposal that was rejected by the workers. The York plant’s production was stopped for three weeks when Harley locked out the workers after they rejected concessions.

By Doug Cunningham

Talks resume today between Harley-Davidson and its York, Pennsylvania workers represented by the International Association of Machinists. Hundreds of Harley workers were laid off Monday in Wisconsin due to the company’s decision to lock out workers at the York plant who rejected concession demands from the profitable company. The talks today are not with federal mediators, but face-to-face between the company and the union.

By Doug Cunningham

Harley-Davidson workers locked out by the company when they overwhelmingly rejected wage, health and pension concessions last week will meet with the company today. Thomas Boger, Business Rep for the International Association of Machinists District 98, says despite having made a billion dollars last year Harley is pressing for a range of concessions from workers.

[Boger 1] : "Health care, two-tier wages, two-tier medical for retirees, two-tier pensions for new employees coming in."

Boger says the union is willing to talk with the company about the problem of ever-rising health care costs, but won’t accept across the board concessions dictated by the company.

By Doug Cunningham

Harley-Davidson workers in York, Pennsylvania are on the picket lines today after being locked out by management. International Association of Machinists District 98 says more than 96 percent of the workers rejected health care, wage and pension concessions. But instead of continuing to bargain the company has locked the workers out.

[Boger]: "It's another situation of corporate greed. The company made a billion dollars last year. The people at Harley-Davidson York Pennsylvania are one of their biggest assets for this company and they make them a lot of money. And there are big stock options afforded to the executives of the company. And it just seems like a shame to me that we can't sit down and work out our problems."

By Doug Cunningham

For two months International Association of Machinists workers have been on strike at Raytheon in Arizona, the world’s largest maker of missile. Federal mediation of talks to end the strike begin tomorrow. The union meets with the federal mediator January 13th. The 1200 workers are on strike defending their health care benefits. Raytheon is trying to increase worker health care costs by as much as 87 percent, according to the union.

With workers at AK Steel Middleton Works in Ohio being locked out for nearly a year, union leaders are close to accepting terms previously rejected by members. Jesse Russell has more.

On February 28, 2006 AK Steel locked out its 1800 workers represented by the International Association of Machinists Lodge 1943. Contract negotiations had broken down over union opposition concerning plans to outsource work at the plant and exhaustive back-to-work physicals that could prove to be too challenging for older employees. The company has not said what would happen to workers unable to pass the physical, but the concern is the workers could lose health and pension benefits. Union leadership has changed its position and will now support the new contract even if it includes the outsourcing of work, but is still concerned about the back-to-work physicals. AK Steel has not said if they will accept the union’s new position, stating that the contract they now endorse was taken off the table after workers voted it down in October. The plant has been running with salaried and replacement workers.

By Doug Cunningham

AK Steel workers are back at the bargaining table today. The workers have been locked out since March 1st. The workers and the company remain far apart on the issues. The last time the two met for talks as November 16th. The International Association of Machinists represents 1800 workers at that Ohio plant.

Although a bankruptcy court judge has ruled Mesaba Airline workers can’t strike, they are still planning to protest.

By Jesse Russell

The airline plans to impose pay and benefit cuts today after a bankruptcy court judge ruled earlier this week that workers could not strike or take any action resembling a strike - such as a work slowdown. The pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics plan to hold pickets at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis this afternoon. They have appealed the ruling by Judge Gregory Kishel and are considering picketing the airport. Flight Attendants from Northwest Airlines have said that they plan to join in the rally.