The IAM is an international union, with thousands of members being citizens of countries outside the United States, most notably in Canada.
The first Canadian Local (Lodge 103) was chartered in Stratford, Ontario in 1890, barely two years after the IAM was founded in a locomotive pit hundreds of miles to the south, in Atlanta, Georgia.
The railroad machinists ignored national boundaries and quickly spread the gospel of worker solidarity from roundhouse to roundhouse as they traveled the new rail lines that were fanning out across the continent. By 1902, workers had joined into 20 IAM lodges from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast to Victoria, British Columbia on the Pacific.
Today, more than 40,000 members belong to 91 Local Lodges and seven District Lodges in every province and territory in Canada.
Canada is a sovereign nation, quite different from the United States in many important respects. Canada has its own distinct laws; universal, national health care, and its own forms of government.
Accordingly, the administration of the IAM in Canada is different, as well. Except for membership record-keeping and accounting, many of the services U.S. members receive from IAM Headquarters (including communications and media relations, education and supplies) are provided to Canadian members through the territorial office in Toronto, headed by the General Vice President for Canada.
The various parts of the IAM are designed to work together to empower, protect and promote the well-being of the union membership. The IAM is composed of a number of bodies, organized along regional and industrial lines, each with particular functions and responsibilities.
YOUR LOCAL LODGE is the basic building block of the IAM. This is where IAM members meet every month, to share and debate ideas, vote on issues and elect officers for all levels of the union, right up to the International President.
There are 1,143 IAM Local Lodges in every region of the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and Panama. Local Lodges range in size from fewer than 100 members to more than 10,000 members.
The Local Lodge has major responsibilities in the process of negotiating and enforcing the contracts that determine the wages, benefits and other terms and conditions under which our members are employed. But most Local Lodges do much more than negotiate contracts and process grievances.
Local Lodges keep members informed and involved through union newsletters and a wide range of clubs and committees covering everything from legislation to health and safety, apprenticeships, community services and recreational events.
Your Local Lodge can be anything you want it to be. YOU can make this happen by attending meetings and becoming involved.
Your Local Lodge Officers are nominated and elected by you and your fellow members in a secret ballot vote. The officers include a President, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Secretary-Treasurer and three Trustees. The officer’s duties are spelled out in “Article C” of the IAM Constitution.
