Tom Buffenbarger on China, the Faster Labor Contracts Act and American Jobs

Tom Buffenbarger, retired International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and a 50-plus-year IAM Union member, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast as an independent labor voice to provide his thoughts on some of the recent labor stories he’s been following.

He traced China's dominance of the global electric vehicle market to decades of corporate decisions that exported American manufacturing knowledge in exchange for short-term sales, described the IAM's years-long fight to win a contract at a Baltimore Apple store only to watch the company close its unionized locations, connected both stories to the urgent need for the Faster Labor Contracts Act and closed with a sharp warning about what proposed cuts of 20 percent to 25 percent of the U.S. Department of Labor's budget would mean for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the workers it is supposed to protect.

• China now produces about 70 percent of all new electric vehicles sold globally at prices between $14,000 and $18,000. Buffenbarger traced that competitive position to decisions made before China achieved permanent normal trade relations status. He pointed to Boeing's early moves to send manufacturing work to China in exchange for airplane sales as the model that gradually transferred critical industrial knowledge and enabled Chinese manufacturers to replicate American designs across multiple industries.
• The IAM organized one of the first Apple stores in the country in Baltimore, won the election handily, and then battled against years of comprehensive union-busting tactics to secure a first contract. Then, they watched as Apple closed its unionized stores first when it announced a round of closures. Buffenbarger called the closures illegal and acknowledged the near-absence of federal enforcement capacity to address it.
• Proposed cuts of 20 percent to 25 percent to the Department of Labor's fiscal year 2027 budget would reduce OSHA enforcement, apprenticeship funding and wage and hour protections, Buffenbarger said. The department has drifted from the promotional mission Frances Perkins established as the first U.S. Secretary of Labor into something closer to a persecution agency for working people, he added. Restoring it will require both sustained voter pressure and legislators who follow through on their promises when budget votes arrive.

China and the Electric Vehicle Threat

Buffenbarger opened with a blunt assessment of where the United States stands in the global EV market. According to Buffenbarger, China produces approximately 70 percent of all new electric vehicles sold worldwide at prices the Big Three automakers simply cannot match. American auto manufacturers are not just losing the domestic market conversation. They are fighting for survival on a global stage where China has already established dominance.

Buffenbarger traced the origins of that position to decisions made decades before permanent normal trade relations were ever formalized. When Boeing began moving manufacturing work to China in exchange for airplane purchase agreements, the calculation was that non-critical work could be shared safely while protecting core technology. That calculation proved wrong, he said. Over time, more and more of the manufacturing puzzle moved east. Today, China produces commercial aircraft that closely resemble Boeing designs. The same playbook, he argued, has now played out across the broader industrial economy, with corporations drawn to China by cheap labor and centralized control of the workforce, exporting American manufacturing capability while waving the American flag at home.

He connected the economic reality to a strategic one. With the United States engaged in military operations across multiple theaters and its defensive and offensive capabilities being drawn down, China is poised to wait as the gap between the two countries’ industrial capacity widens.

The Apple Store Fight and What It Reveals

The IAM Union organized one of the first Apple stores in the United States in Baltimore, executing a carefully planned campaign in a service and technology environment that posed unique challenges. The election was won handily. What came next was a multi-year battle against what Buffenbarger described as a comprehensive union-busting manual applied with full corporate resources against a relatively small group of workers. The IAM eventually secured a contract.

However, Apple then announced store closures. The unionized locations went first. Buffenbarger called it illegal. He also acknowledged that calling something illegal and having the federal government actually prosecute it are two entirely different things in the current environment. According to Buffenbarger, the IAM's legal team is pursuing every available avenue.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act

For Buffenbarger, the Apple story put a human face on the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which he said is generating real momentum. A discharge petition has cleared the 218-signature threshold required to force a House floor vote, bypassing leadership. If passed, the bill would require mediation if no collective bargaining agreement is reached within 90 days of the start of bargaining. If mediation fails, a binding arbitration panel renders a final decision on contract terms. Seven House Republicans signed the petition alongside Democrats, and Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is the Senate sponsor.

Buffenbarger brought insights from his more than five decades of contract experience to the discussion. He has seen organizing victories repeatedly stall at the contract stage, with employers using prolonged surface bargaining as a de facto strategy to exhaust workers and drain resources. The Apple store is a high-profile recent example. Countless others never make the news. Legislation that establishes a clear timeline and binding consequences for bad-faith bargaining would fundamentally shift that dynamic.

Labor Department Budget Cuts and a Mission Under Threat

Proposed cuts of 20 percent to 25 percent to the Department of Labor's fiscal year 2027 budget drew a harsh response from Buffenbarger. He described a department that has increasingly been turned against the workers it was created to serve, funding enforcement actions against unions and working people while consistently failing to enforce fair wage laws or follow through on promises about apprenticeships and skills training.

He brought up Frances Perkins, the first U.S. Secretary of Labor and the first woman to hold a cabinet position, as the architect of what the department was supposed to be: a promotional agency for working people in an industrial society. That mission, he said, has been lost.

Workers Memorial Day, observed on April 28, underscores the ongoing cost of that drift. While decreasing, the number of workers dying on the job every year in this country, he said, is inexcusable. Increasing the enforcement capacity could reduce that number, but is exactly what budget cuts of this magnitude would further erode.

Meanwhile, as rail safety legislation moves through Congress, Buffenbarger noted, it represents the kind of step in the right direction that is possible when political will exists. Whether that will hold is the question.

Go Behind the Scenes of the Labor Movement

Every victory at the bargaining table starts with workers standing together. From the shop floor to the statehouse, hear how activists are fighting for better wages, safer conditions and a stronger future. Subscribe to the America's Work Force Union Podcast to get the latest interviews with the leaders and organizers building worker power across America.