Stung by Trump, machinists union campaigns for affordability in midterms

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers hold a rally on 5 May 2026. Photograph: Ross Olson/IAMAWView image in fullscreenMembers of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers hold a rally on 5 May 2026. Photograph: Ross Olson/IAMAWUS unionsStung by Trump, machinists union campaigns for affordability in midtermsOne of the largest labor unions in the US targets eight battleground states in ‘workers v billionaires’ campaign

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), one of the largest labor unions in the US, has launched a “workers v billionaires” political campaign tour targeting members in eight battleground states and encouraging them to support pro-worker candidates in the midterms.

IAM has nearly 700,000 active and retired members in North America, covering workers at corporations that include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Airlines and Harley-Davidson. The union is targeting members and voters in Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Illinois.

“We made a strategic commitment that we’re going to be the most engaged that we have ever been in the history of our union in working,” said Brian Bryant, international president of IAM. “We’re living in an economy that only favors billionaires and does not favor working people, and it’s time that Congress and this administration realize who they should be looking out for.”

Bryant emphasized that several union members, including those with IAM, voted for Trump in 2024 because of promises that he would fix the economy and make things more affordable. Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed: “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one.”

Yet since Trump took office, inflation has increased from 3.0% in January 2025 to 3.4% in August 2026, health insurance costs are soaring due to the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies and gas prices are on average $1 a gallon higher due to Trump’s war with Iran.

The union will “send a message to this administration that what the status quo is right now is not acceptable, and they’re going to have to stand up and pay attention to working people”, Bryant said.

Jason Gayler, president of IAM local 776A in Fort Worth, Texas, said his state “is more purple than what people put out to be”. As Democrats are seeking to flip several seats, polls are showing that races are the most competitive they’ve been in decades.

“The price of just the cost of living in north Texas now has absolutely skyrocketed, and it’s starting to really affect a lot of our members, which is motivating them to back candidates that focus primarily on the working class,” Gayler said.

He also noted that the machinists recently elected their first rank-and-file member to the Texas senate; Taylor Rehmet, president of the IAM’s Texas state council, won a special election in January, flipping a state senate district that Trump won in 2024 by 17%.

Shay Blodgett, an Alaska Airlines worker in Phoenix who is helping to lead IAM’s political program in Arizona, said the union has worked to oppose Republican-led state legislation that would have restricted public sector workers’ ability to organize and supported the Arizona AFL-CIO “labor 2026 blitz” campaign.

“We’ve been conducting member-to-member engagement this summer, reaching out, asking members what matters to them,” Blodgett said. “We heard them loud and clear. The No 1 thing was the economy, cost of living, fuel prices, healthcare and food costs.”