The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has joined with Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez (D-Calif.) and other labor supporters to introduce the Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act. This legislation seeks to renew the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which lost its congressional funding in 2022.
Laura Ewan, IAM Legislative Chief Counsel, represented the union at a press event announcing the bill. 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.”
The TAA program has historically provided U.S. workers affected by outsourcing or international competition with support such as job training, income assistance, healthcare benefits, and reemployment services. Data shows that participants in TAA programs have earned significantly more—about $50,000 extra over a decade—than those who did not participate.
Since the expiration of TAA funding in 2022, nearly 200,000 displaced workers have submitted petitions for assistance; these cases remain unresolved due to lack of authorization.
Congresswoman Sanchez emphasized the urgency for action: “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.”
If enacted, the new bill would reauthorize TAA programs for workers, firms, and farmers for seven years. It proposes expanded eligibility criteria, increased funding levels—including coverage for childcare expenses—and improved benefits overall. The act also aims to establish a new program supporting communities affected by trade-related job loss and restore funding for community college-based retraining initiatives.
A group of House Democrats from various states cosponsored the legislation alongside Sanchez.
Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), one of the cosponsors from Louisville—a city known for strong union representation—said: “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 highlighted past examples where TAA helped employees after plant closures led companies like Caterpillar and Truck-Lite moved hundreds of jobs abroad: “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.”
