After Sabbatical

I started my IWJ Kansas sabbatical on June 11, 2012 after a friend asked me to run for an open seat in the Kansas House of Representatives. I had not planned on doing either. But I did both.Reflecting on the past few months I can say that I am glad for the experience. It is an honor to be asked to run for an elected office. I am forever grateful to my family and friends for their support and encouragement and to the Kansas teachers' union, KNEA, for their endorsement. I learned a lot and I enjoyed going door to door. I got to know my neighbors and my neighborhood.

In addition to running for an elected office during my sabbatical I worked on a manuscript, attended a conversation with Father Roy Bourgeois who has been leading a campaign to close the School of the Americas for the last twenty-two years, met with leaders of the Communications Workers of America Local 6402 and learned about their efforts to bring overseas call centers back to the U.S. and to organize workers at T-Mobile, and I continued to develop IWJ Kansas.

My sabbatical officially ended yesterday when I went to stand with members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Local 639. This IAM Local represents 825 hourly workers at the Wichita Bombardier LearJet plant--the company's home office is in Montreal, Canada.These are the men and women who actually build the aircraft. They are the producers. They have been in contract negotiations with management for the last month. The present contract expires on October 8, 2012.

Reporter Molly McMillin wrote in The Wichita Eagle (Wednesday, October 3, 2012) that the management negotiators presented their proposal on the economic portion of the contract on Monday of this week.Union negotiators replied with a proposal of their own on Tuesday. Now IAM members are waiting for a response from the management.If progress is not made on the contract the union will take a strike vote on Saturday, October 6. According to McMillin, the company offer freezes current pension plans and replaces them with a 401(k). It also includes large increases in health care costs. And, it calls for an eight year agreement with no wage increases in the first three years and a one percent increase in each of the next five years. McMillin cited a management spokesperson who said that the offer reflects the slow market of the past few years and a pause in sales of the LearJet 60 business jet production caused by weakness in the global economy.

When I went to the company website I learned that while it is true that the global economic downturn has slowed the sale of business aviation jets and there was a pause in sales, potential investors should be optimistic about the prospects for future growth. Bombardier has 45 percent of the market and expects future sales growth. The company's 20 year market forecast anticipates that it will make 9,800 deliveries between 2012 and 2021, and a total of 24,000 deliveries between 2012 and 2031. Revenue, which was $139 billion between 2002 and 2012 will increase to $226 billion between 2013 and 2021 and climb to $382 billion for the period from 2022 to 2031. This suggests that the company's future is brighter than the contract offer implies.

The immediate issue for members of the IAM Local and company management is a contract agreement that will fairly compensate the people who actually build the jets--the producers--for their work in light of the company's anticipated future growth. In addition the management should be guided by public commitments that the company has made.

As I explored the company's website I was gratified to learn that it supports the United Nations Global Compact Initiatives.Principle 3 of the Compact recognizes the right of collective bargaining and commits the company "to maintain a constructive dialogue with labor unions." On its website the company also endorses the International Labor Federation Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights to Work. In its 2004 report, "Fair Globalization: Creating opportunities for all," the International Labor Organization (ILO) stated, "The rules of the global economy should be aimed at improving the rights, livelihoods, security, and opportunities of people, families and communities around the world"--World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization (Geneva--2004).

Interfaith Worker Justice Kansas is a movement that brings together people of many faith communities and traditions, members of organized labor and people of good will who are prepared to raise moral issues and take action that will defend human rights and promote the common good. To borrow a phrase from the World Council of Churches, we want an economy that is in the "service of of life."

In closing I offer this prayer for today. Living God, you call us to fight for justice, to love kindness and to walk in solidarity with our neighbors (Micah 6:8). We pray that these sacred principles will guide our sisters and brothers as they negotiate a new contract that will bring together the producers and managers who work at Bombardier LearJet. We pray that they will reach an accord that will create an economy in the service of life and improve the rights, livelihoods, security and opportunities of all the people and the larger community. Amen.