To promote Unite and Strike May Day 2028 in your union, you can print and use this flyer (En/Es).
Through the efforts of Class Struggle Action Network members in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the following resolution was circulated at the recent IAM Western Regional Conference, which brought together delegates from districts across 13 states. The resolution aims to organize workers to be strike-ready by May Day 2028, in response to the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) call urging unions to align contract expirations and prepare for coordinated strike action on May Day 2028.
Brothers and Sisters of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,
The various company exploiters and their political allies are waging an unprecedented assault on working people across every service and industry. From the factory floor to federal offices, from manufacturing plants to service facilities, we face coordinated attacks designed to strip us of our power, our dignity, and our ability to provide for ourselves and families.
The economic reality for working people today is stark. Real wages have been declining for over a decade while corporate profits soar to record heights. Housing costs have skyrocketed beyond the reach of working families. The gap between what we produce and what we’re paid grows wider every year. And it’s going to get harder before it gets better unless we act.
Our diverse membership across manufacturing, transportation, and federal service knows this reality firsthand: Management repeatedly threatens plant closures and job outsourcing while executives receive massive bonuses. Federal workers have been experiencing mass layoffs. Workers across industries see their jobs automated away while corporate shareholders celebrate record profits.
These corporate decision-makers fund our wages only to the extent necessary to extract maximum value from our labor, training the next generation of workers to accept ever-lower standards while they accumulate unprecedented wealth. This is a war on workers!
Despite the IAM’s strength across multiple industries, we remain fragmented, negotiating on individual company and facility levels with contract expirations scattered throughout the year. This approach diminishes our strike power and allows management to pick us off one by one.
This must change!
The United Auto Workers has issued a call for unions to align contract expirations for International Workers’ Day 2028, with the aim of coordinated strike action. This call has already been answered by 1.7 million educators in the American Federation of Teachers, 200,000 members of the American Postal Workers Union, and 50,000 flight attendants in the Association of Flight Attendants.
By potentially uniting millions of workers in common action, this represents a historic opportunity to gain the leverage we need to reverse the tide of attacks against working people.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:
1. That the IAM Western Regional Conference establish a May Day 2028 Strike Coordination Committee to work toward building the capacity for coordinated strike action on May 1, 2028, through multiple strategic approaches:
○ Contract Alignment: Where possible, align contract expirations to expire by April 30, 2028, to enable May Day strike action
○ Strategic Bargaining Extension: For contracts that cannot be aligned by expiration date, coordinate to extend bargaining timelines to May 1, 2028, through strategic bargaining tactics
○ Unfair Labor Practice Strikes: Develop capacity to utilize ULP strikes and other legal strike mechanisms to enable participation in May Day action regardless of contract status
○ Solidarity Action: Build frameworks for solidarity actions that support striking workers across industries
○ Removal of “No strike Clauses” where possible in contracts bargained between now and then.
2. That this committee coordinate with the United Auto Workers, American Federation of Teachers, American Postal Workers Union, Association of Flight Attendants, and other participating unions to build toward the capacity for coordinated strike action, recognizing that “together we have so much more power than we do alone.”
3. That our committee develop shared demands outside the diverse political positions of the members present, but that are anchored in the fundamental needs of workers including:
○ Substantial wage increases
○ Opposition to job outsourcing, plant closures and other targeted attacks on workers
○ The removal of No Strike clauses from all contracts
○ Equal pay for equal work
○ Reduced work hours
○ Improved working conditions.
4. That we commit resources to build organizational capacity for coordinated action, including strike funds, solidarity networks, and membership mobilization programs.
5. That we acknowledge the economic hardship facing working families and commit to building support systems that enable workers to participate in collective action.
6. That this committee and supporters of this resolution work to advance similar motions throughout the IAM membership, including other regional conferences, local lodges, and district councils, to build union-wide support for May Day 2028 coordinated action.
7. That this effort remains independent of Democratic or Republican party agendas and focused solely on leveraging worker power for worker demands, recognizing that our shared economic struggles transcend political divisions and that united action requires setting aside differences that divide workers from taking collective action in defense of our common interests.
This moment is historic in its potential to unite millions of workers across industries in common struggle against those who would reduce us to mere profit centers, following the UAW’s call to “show the bosses hell” through coordinated action. The corporate elite have shown they will not negotiate in good faith when we approach them individually. They respond only to power—the power of organized workers willing to withdraw our labor collectively.
It is of the utmost importance for the well being of working people in this country and around the world that the IAM link arms in solidarity with our union siblings across industries to align contract expirations for May Day 2028.
The time for half-measures and isolated struggles has passed. The time for coordinated action by the working class has arrived.
I move for the adoption of this resolution.
