The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has joined Representative Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.) and other labor supporters to introduce the Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act. The bill seeks to renew the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which lost congressional funding in 2022.
Laura Ewan, IAM Legislative Chief Counsel, spoke at a press conference about the importance of the program for workers affected by trade-related job losses. “TAA must be reauthorized, modernized, and properly funded to help assist and retrain workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own,” said Ewan. “Their job losses are caused by greedy corporate decisions that rely on bad trade policy and trade loopholes to prioritize shareholder profits over people.”
The TAA program offers support such as job training, income assistance, health care help, and services to find new employment. According to data from past participants, those who completed the program earned on average $50,000 more over a decade than those who did not participate.
Since Congress allowed TAA’s authorization to lapse, nearly 200,000 workers have filed petitions for assistance but remain in limbo due to the lack of renewed funding.
“Every day Congress fails to act, American workers and their families are left to struggle,” said Rep. Sanchez. “They are not economic statistics. They are our friends and neighbors who unfairly lost their jobs to outsourcing. Trade Adjustment Assistance is a lifeline to them, helping them rebuild their careers, protect their families and hold on to hope. Congress cannot abandon them any longer.”
The proposed legislation would extend TAA programs for workers, firms, and farmers for seven years; expand eligibility; increase funding; improve benefits including childcare support; create a new TAA Communities program; and restore funding for community college-based training initiatives.
The bill is cosponsored by several House members from different states.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), another cosponsor of the bill, stated: “Louisville is powered by unions, our workers deserve to be made whole if they lose their jobs due to trade changes,” adding: “I’m proud to join Rep. Sanchez to introduce the Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act, a bill that makes good on our promise to American workers.”
IAM International President Brian Bryant cited recent plant closures as examples of why TAA is necessary: “The IAM knows firsthand how critical the TAA program is to workers who lost their jobs as a result of outsourcing and unfair trade practices,” said Bryant. “When Caterpillar shuttered its Joliet, Ill., facility in 2018 and 2019 and moved roughly 600 IAM jobs to Mexico, TAA was there. When Truck-Lite closed its Falconer, N.Y., plant in early 2020 and shipped more than 150 jobs to Mexico and China, TAA was there. Now, nearly 400 Whirlpool workers in Amana, Iowa, are losing their jobs to Mexico, with hundreds more cuts expected later this year. Without TAA reauthorization these workers lose not just their paychecks but the job training and financial support they need to rebuild their lives. That’s not just a blow to workers—it’s a blow to their families and communities.”
