IWJ Kansas asks you to support IAM Local 639

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 639, are on strike. If you would like to contribute to their strike fund, make your check out to IAM, Local 639, and mail it to the Machinists Union Hall, 3830 South Meridian, Wichita, KS. 67217. If you are a member of a faith community, please take a special offering this Sunday to support the men and women who are on strike. Thank you.

The Wichita Eagle ran a misdirected headline today: “First day of Machinist strike causes traffic jam.” One would think from this that the traffic jam was the Big Story. Fortunately the article was better than the headline, but you had to go to page two. The company wants to eliminate the two HMO plans used by 80 percent of the workforce and add large increases to worker healthcare costs. It could cost workers—the people who actually produce the airplanes—who have chronic medical conditions or sick children hundreds of dollars a month—far more than the contract is offering. All workers would pay more for health care.

As I read the article in The Wichita Eagle (Oct. 9, 2012) it seemed to me that the company is offering the union its form of a medical voucher. The company will control costs by paying a fixed amount and shifting all additional expenses to the worker. I wondered if the management is being offered the same deal. The article did not say but it would be nice to know.

The article did identify one family with two children both of whom have chronic medical problems. One child has asthma and the other child is diabetic. Both parents also have medical conditions. They take 15 prescriptions a month. If the daughter with asthma needs to go to the emergency room under the new plan the parents will have pay $350 out of pocket plus 20 percent of the bill, instead of the fixed $100 under the current plan. The father, who has worked at Bombardier LearJet for 23 years, said that the new plan would bankrupt his family.

My colleague and friend, the Reverend Dr. Art Cribbs, who is the Executive Director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice in California, read about the strike and sent me a powerful email. Paraphrasing his message, he said that every person who lives in a wealthy nation like this should have health care—no questions asked about insurance coverage or ability to pay. Health care should not be a determining issue in contract negotiations. Health care is a right. The government should provide national health care for everyone. I agree.

Health care is a jobs issue. In economic terms since the U.S. is the only industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care this nation is at a comparative and competitive disadvantage. In order to compete in a global economy we need a level playing field, and this means we need universal health care.

So why don’t we have it? I believe that reason we do not have universal health care is because as a nation we favor corporate welfare over individual and family well-being. We need to change our priorities.

I am grateful to the men and women of IAM Local 639 for stepping out and standing up. We need to put people and families first. I hope you will join me in making a contribution to the IAM Local 639 strike fund. Send you contribution to IAM Local 639, IAM Hall, 3830 S. Meridian, Wichita, KS 67217. Thank you.

Rev. David Hansen, Ph.D.

Executive Director/Organizer

Interfaith Worker Justice Kansas