The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has joined with Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez and other labor allies to introduce the Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act. The bill seeks to renew and update the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which lost its congressional funding in 2022.
Laura Ewan, IAM Legislative Chief Counsel, spoke on behalf of the union at a press conference introducing the legislation. Ewan stated, “TAA must be reauthorized, modernized, and properly funded to help assist and retrain workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Their job losses are caused by greedy corporate decisions that rely on bad trade policy and trade loopholes to prioritize shareholder profits over people.”
Trade Adjustment Assistance is designed to provide U.S. workers displaced by trade-related changes with support such as job training, income assistance, health care aid, and services for reemployment. According to program data, individuals who participated in TAA earned an average of $50,000 more over ten years than those who did not enroll.
Since TAA’s expiration in 2022, almost 200,000 workers have filed petitions for help; these cases remain unresolved due to the lapse in authorization. The number of pending petitions continues to rise.
Ranking Member Sanchez addressed the urgency: “Every day Congress fails to act, American workers and their families are left to struggle. 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 TAA Modernization Act would extend the worker assistance programs for seven years and aims to broaden eligibility criteria while increasing available funding and benefits—including support for childcare expenses. It would also establish a new initiative focused on communities affected by trade changes and restore funding for community college-based training efforts.
Several House Democrats have signed onto the bill as cosponsors.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey expressed support for the legislation: “Louisville is powered by unions, our workers deserve to be made whole if they lose their jobs due to trade changes. 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 described past instances where TAA was crucial: “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 their communities.”
