Jason Chan: From the shop floor to the president’s office

The STAND sat down with the new president of IAM District 751, talking through his rise to leadership of one of Washington’s largest unions–and how camaraderie and solidarity builds worker power

SEATTLE, WA (June 1, 2026) — “You can change peoples’ lives with a contract,” says Jason Chan, the new leader of Machinists (IAM) District 751, sitting in his office in Southpark. “My contract changed mine.”

Chan was elected President and Directing Business Representative of IAM District 751 in April, nearly two decades after he first walked through the doors of the Machinists’ hall. He’s taking the helm during a time of change for the workforce, and for the union’s biggest employer, Boeing. In May, Chan sat down with The STAND to share how he first got engaged with his union, what he’s learned as an organizer and business representative, and his plans for a member-led union in this new era.

Chan’s experience positions him well for this moment. He began working at Boeing at the start of 2008, leaving work at a bank to be a wing line mechanic at the company’s Renton facility. Within his first week, his shop steward invited him to a union meeting; Chan went.

“I was 30 years old when I went to Boeing,” said Chan. “I wanted to understand what being in the union was about out.”

“I walk in the door and I was welcomed with open arms,” Chan continued. “Being an only child, I really felt that I had 30,000 brothers and sisters that I didn’t know. I think at that point in my life, it was something that I was looking for, and I found it just by mistake, by chance.”

Photo: IAM 751

Chan’s first year at the company was a whirlwind. “I hit the floor in maybe February, March. We went on a strike in September,” said Chan. “So it was six months of nonstop overtime basically. And then we go out for 57 days.”

Machinists successfully struck Boeing for a fair contract, but they headed back to work as the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession was throwing the economy into a tailspin.

“It was a good contract in 2008. Now 2009 turns, and I’m worried about getting laid off every month now. I was one of the lucky ones. I didn’t get laid off,” said Chan. But seeing how Boeing handled those layoffs — and company messaging in the media — helped Chan better understand why the union was so important.

“[The company] is not looking out for the best interests of the workers, so we have to stick together,” Chan recounted. “That’s where it started. This whole thought of solidarity, and when we stick together, we win. Once that light bulb turns on, that, that’s really where the power comes from…fighting for the same goal, speaking with one voice.”

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Chan was on the line in Renton for seven years, taking on work with the union alongside his day job. He served first as an auditor, helping ensure records were kept accurate. Then his business representative asked him to be a steward. He was in that role when a 2013 contract extension was pushed through under company threats of moving work out of Washington. Navigating the fallout from that contentious vote helped shape Chan’s respect for members’ voices.

“I learned that no matter if they disagree with you, no matter how angry they are, they still need someone there. They look to someone to vent. They look to someone to explain, they look to someone to tell their side of the story. And as a steward, that’s why you’re there. You have to listen to your members.” Chan was then appointed as a work transfer representative–fighting against moving 737 work out of Washington–before joining the District 751 staff as an organizer in 2018, ultimately becoming a business representative about a year later.

Chan worked with Boeing Machinists while on staff. But he also stepped into organizing and collective bargaining with other workers District 751 represents, including healthcare and nonprofit workers. He got firsthand experience with the different priorities and bargaining approaches more common in those sectors, bringing an understanding that no matter the industry, all workers deserve fair pay, dignity, and respect on the job.

“It doesn’t matter if you work for Big Brothers & Big Sisters, it doesn’t matter if you work for MultiCare. It doesn’t matter if you work for Boeing,” said Chan. “You deserve to have these rights. We’re going to be here to try to get those for you.”

So while the workplaces of Machinists caring for patients and Machinists building planes are vastly different, commonalities unite them. In conversations with members, Chan sees folks laser-focused on securing a good quality of life, working to live, not living to work. It’s a collective bargaining focus he’s seen repeatedly, and one he expects to be central in 2028 contract negotiations with Boeing. (Engineers and technical workers at Boeing organized with SPEEA have also identified that as a priority in their current contract campaign.)

“It goes back to work-life balance,” said Chan. “Can we get folks more time with their families? Ultimately, that’s what we’re here for, right? We’re here to support our kids and our spouses and our family. So those are things that I think are always going to be at the forefront of any negotiation. Anytime I talk to any members, something always brings the conversation back to that.”

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In some ways, Chan is a unique leader for District 751. In the nearly 90 years of 751’s history, he is the first person of color to serve as President, leading a union increasingly diverse with each new generation of Boeing workers and expansion into healthcare organizing. Chan also doesn’t come from a union family, learning everything about organized labor while on the job. The community he found at his first union meeting is at the center of his understanding of how unions build power for workers.

“I’m the first person in my family to be a union member,” said Chan. “You can know nothing about unions and 18 years later be the president of this great district. I mean, it’s mind blowing to me.”

But Chan also is continuing a legacy of leadership guided by direct conversations with the membership, an approach District 751’s previous president Jon Holden cemented within the union. Chan worked alongside Holden as his Chief of Staff for the past five years, shoulder to shoulder as Holden led the membership out in a historic strike in 2024.

Departing president Jon Holden swears-in Chan in April. Photo: IAM 751

“When [Holden] first took the helm in 2014, people were angry,” said Chan. “Jon stood in the face of all that. You could watch Jon handle those moments in a way that it gave you confidence that you could do it. I think it’s a great path that he put us on, and I think that if there’s anything that I learned from him, it’s to engage. That is where our power is, in the membership.”

“I learn every single day from people, from our members, from our staff,” Chan continued. “The exciting thing is that you can help someone. That’s about the most powerful thing that we can do.”

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As Chan moves forward leading one of Washington state’s largest unions, IAM’s largest employer is also entering a new era. Production at Boeing is ramping up after a seven-year slowdown. The company is hiring hundreds of new workers, staffing a new 737 MAX production line set to open this summer in Everett and replacing retirees, bringing an influx of new members into the union.

On Friday afternoons, the District 751 hall in Southpark fills up with Boeing’s new hires, coming in for an orientation covering their new rights as union members. Ed Lutgen, 751’s steward coordinator stands at the doors to the hall, greeting a steady stream of about a 100 or more new Machinists each week. It’s their first exposure to the union, not unlike the meeting nearly two decades ago that introduced Chan to his labor family and kickstarted his commitment to building power for working people.

“Happy Friday,” Lutgen says, greeting the next generation of Boeing Machinists as they walk through the doors for the first time. “Welcome to your union.”