The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), which represents over 600,000 members in North America, has urged the U.S. Trade Representative to implement stronger labor enforcement and job protections as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review.
In comments submitted for the six-year joint review of the USMCA, the IAM Union highlighted ongoing concerns about weak labor enforcement in Mexico and rules that allow jobs to be moved out of the United States and Canada. The union has a history of opposing both NAFTA in the 1990s and the USMCA during its adoption 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 calls for expanding the Rapid Response Mechanism to cover more workers in Mexico, extending labor value content rules to sectors such as aerospace and shipbuilding, and tightening rules of origin to prevent non-USMCA content from entering duty-free supply chains.
“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,” reads part of the IAM Union’s submission.
The IAM Union represents active and retired members working across industries such as aerospace, airlines, defense, shipbuilding, railroads, transit systems, healthcare, automotive manufacturing and more throughout the United States and Canada.
