The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union), which represents around 600,000 members in North America, has called on the U.S. Trade Representative to improve labor enforcement and job protections as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) six-year review.
In comments submitted for the mandatory review, IAM Union expressed concerns about ongoing weak labor standards in Mexico and what it described as insufficient rules of origin. The union argued that these issues threaten jobs in the United States and Canada, particularly within manufacturing and aerospace sectors. The IAM previously opposed both USMCA’s adoption in 2019 and NAFTA during the 1990s.
“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 submission calls for expanding the Rapid Response Mechanism to include more workers and reinforce labor rights in Mexico. It also recommends extending the Labor Value Content rule to cover additional industries such as aerospace and shipbuilding, along with tightening rules of origin so that only qualifying products can enter duty-free supply chains.
The IAM Union’s filing stated: “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 is one of North America’s largest industrial trade unions with members working across sectors such as aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, railroad transit, healthcare, automotive and more throughout both the United States and Canada.
