The union had its December meeting last Saturday. This was the first meeting since the executive board elected who to send to the W3 Center for training in 2025. One of the trainings is Young Machinists Leadership. According to a call letter from W3:

“Members attending this training will be encouraged to work with lodge leaders to develop viable Young Machinists committees and begin the mentoring process for other young workers”¹

The union has a 5-person Young Machinists Committee. There were 5 spots available for training, but the e-board only elected to send 3 members of the committee: Dakota White, Jason Ryder, and Garrett Stewart.² Instead of sending Dan Bailey and Cameron Fisher, the e-board filled the last two spots with non-committee members Archie Latham and Matt Wooten. Although the e-board voted to send Fisher to Women’s Advanced Leadership, it did not agree to a policy of one member, one training.³ If it had, the decision to send someone else to Young Machinists Leadership might have made sense. This was not the basis of the e-board’s decision. The e-board voted to send Latham and Wooten each to 3 trainings in 2025. The e-board voted to send:

• Latham to Young Machinists Leadership, EAP Two, and DOT Railroad Hazardous Material.”⁴
• And Wooten to Young Machinists Leadership, EAP One, and DOT Railroad Hazardous Material.⁵

For the second year in a row, the e-board will not give Bailey any opportunity for W3 training. During the meeting, a long-time steward addressed the clear bias. “All this travel is ass kissing lately,” he said. Training opportunities are not going to the committees but the executive board’s buddies. The e-board is leaving out second shift representatives like Bailey. He accused the e-board of being self-serving.⁶

The e-board did vote to send some of its own. The e-board voted to send:

• Secretary Treasurer Steve Stewart to Train the Trainer. He is also Garrett Stewart’s uncle.⁷
• Recording Secretary Ryan Ryder to Train the Trainer. He is also Jason Ryder’s brother.⁸
• Vice President Ray Orff to Advanced Leadership.⁹
• And Communicator Devin Ragnar to Advanced Leadership, “the basic web development class,” and “the advanced communicators class.”¹⁰

But Ragnar took issue with being called self-serving.¹¹ Who better to send to those trainings than the union’s spokesperson? The bylaws state:

“Members serving in a Local Lodge representative’s position or office and or on a Local Lodge Committee(s) will be given priority consideration for appointment to training concerning the activities of the Local Lodge position held or committee of which they are a member.”¹²

It is not a problem that the e-board is sending officers like Stewart, Ryder, and Orff to trainings. If they have not had the training before, they should get it before stewards, committeepersons, and rank-and-file members. The problem is members of the e-board did not give the young machinists the same consideration they gave themselves. How else was MacArthur supposed to describe this behavior but self-serving?

For those who felt left out, Trustee Josh Johnstone suggested online classes. You don’t want to go down there anyway, he said. The food is shit, and the beds are uncomfortable. Johnstone added that the President will probably let stewards sign out on union business to do online trainings.¹³

The officers implied W3 offers the same classes online as they do in-person. This was misleading. According to W3:

“Virtual Training Sessions… differ from traditional Leadership, Staff, and Departmental programs in that members can register themselves, the trainings cover only one topic, and sessions typically last 1-2 hours.”¹⁴

No young machinists training is available online. Even if there were an online training, it is impossible to develop a viable committee in just 1-2 hours.

Trustee Marc Lindvall’s “ass puckered” at the results. He said he had apologized to as many second shift representatives as he could.¹⁵ (After the meeting, Johnny Johnson confirmed Lindvall had apologized to him and others.¹⁶) Lindvall suggested the e-board vote according to ratios.¹⁷ Something like 25% of the members come from second shift.¹⁸ It would make sense to allocate one in four training spots to their representatives. The suggestion proved divisive, and the debate quickly deteriorated. The President called for order, and District Representative Chris Wiers spoke up. He put the issue to rest when he said, “[Lindvall’s proposal] would take a bylaws change.”¹⁹

I fail to see how amending the bylaws would make any difference. The bylaws already have clear language. Bailey should have received “priority consideration” for training that supports his committee’s activities. Who would enforce consideration of shift ratios? It is unfortunate the body focused on the bias against the second shift. I believe this bias to be very real, but the issue at hand is not about first shift versus second shift. It is about the e-board. At best, the e-board didn’t do its homework. At worst, the e-board is corrupt and self-serving. Either way, we will not legislate ourselves out of this problem.

1. Brian Bryant, “2025 Younger Workers Leadership Program Schedule and Enrollment,” call letter to Directing Business Reps, Local Lodge Presidents, and Recording Secretaries in the United States and Canada, and TCU-IAM, September 16, 2024. ↩︎
2. Special Executive Board Meeting Minutes, December 03, 2024, IAM Local S6. ↩︎
3. Ibid. ↩︎
4. Ibid. ↩︎
5. Ibid. ↩︎
6. Bob MacArthur in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎
7. Special Executive Board Meeting Minutes, December 03, 2024, IAM Local S6. ↩︎
8. Ibid. ↩︎
9. Ibid. ↩︎
10. Ibid. ↩︎
11. Devin Ragnar in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎
12. IAM Local S6 Bylaws (June 2023), 20. ↩︎
13. Josh Johnstone in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎
14. “Virtual Training Sessions,” IAMAW William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center. Accessed December 22, 2024. ↩︎
15. Marc Lindvall in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎
16. Johnny Johnson in conversation with author, January 2, 2024. ↩︎
17. Marc Lindvall in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎
18. I looked at exact numbers in January 2024. According to company records at that time, 71.93% of the membership were assigned first shift, 22.64% second, and 5.44% third. ↩︎
19. Chris Wiers in union meeting, December 2024. ↩︎