IAM Local 623 members employed at Electrolux in St. Cloud, MN attend an information session on the IAM Free College program, a union benefit extended to the members and their families in the wake of Electrolux’s announced plant closing.
As the GOP-Trump tax cuts continue to annihilate the country, leaving plant closing after plant closing in its wake, the IAM continues to deploy every resource in the saving of American jobs and its members.
IAM Local 176 recently hosted a job fair with aerospace company Spirit AeroSystems for soon-to-be displaced workers at Harley-Davidson in Kansas City. The Local is planning a meet and greet event with nuclear management and operations contractor Honeywell FM&T on Thursday, June 7th.
“What’s happening across our country with the continuous plant closings and the uprooting of workers’ and their families’ lives is unfathomable,” said IAM Local 176 Directing Business Representative Joe Capra. “The IAM is working all sides of the issue – from pressuring lawmakers, to getting our message out in the media, to hosting job fairs and information sessions such as these – as our members work to pick up the pieces of this wreckage the GOP-Trump tax cut is leaving behind.”
The union has also agreed to extend the IAM Free College Program to members and their families affected by impending plant closures.
IAM Local 176 members, as well as Local 623 members at Electrolux in St. Cloud, MN, recently attended information sessions.
“The opportunity to receive a college education or provide for a child preparing to go to college is just one advantage of being an IAM member,” said IAM Local 623 Directing Business Representative Colleen Murphy-Cooney. “It’s also one more way the IAM is working to protect and provide a safety net for those members and their families who need this education benefit now more than ever.”
In addition to union resources, IAM Local 176 and 623 are also working in conjunction with their local politicians and workforce development boards in helping employees obtain transition assistance, training and other employment.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced it will be providing Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Local 623 members at Electrolux. TAA provides training and other support to workers adversely affected by foreign trade to help them obtain new jobs.
“The Electrolux TAA petition certification and approval will give our members at Electrolux an opportunity to re-train for new careers, provide a life for their families and help keep the St. Cloud economy strong,” said Murphy-Cooney. “Our members are already highly-skilled, hard workers. This assistance is a commitment to helping them secure future employment and obtain any increased skills sets they may need.”
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