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Plant Chair Report
Plant Chair Report for July Good Morning Brothers and Sisters: Welcome to Local Lodge 639's monthly meeting. It has been another challenging month for Learjet and its employees. Building 9 and Buildings 1-5, Flight Test and Completions are still behind schedule and working massive amounts of overtime. Building 9 is having problems getting training and retaining employees in the SMA classification. Read Full Report Plant Chair Report for April Good Morning Brothers and Sisters: Welcome to Local Lodge 639's monthly meeting. Let's get right to the news, starting with Buildings 1 through 5. Building 1 and the 40/45 line. Terry Carrington and I have met with the Company on the topics of concern for the 40/45 line. We have worked through and resolved many of the issues that were raised. We are waiting on management's response in writing to decide what further action will be necessary. You all know the major concerns, such as working out of classification, massive overtime, communication, and moving the plane to the next position without the work being accomplished. The Company is telling us that they need more input. They have requested that we pass on to you their request to start using the PBL (Process-Based Leadership). In your crew meetings is the time for you to be vocal and utilize the pass up/pass down to help address the concerns this line has with the manufacturing process. I strongly suggest that you begin this process. The senior management team needs to hear what is on your minds. Read Full Report Thank you from LL639 I would like to thank Charlie Ahlstedt for his years in the IAM. Charlie has been a member of LL 639 from the first day it started. He celebrated his 35th year with Learjet this month. Charlie is a inspector on the 60 model wing line in building 9 and is looking forward to retirement next year. We will miss him when he leaves. Pat Holliday and Terry Kyle came by with his many fellow workers for his 35th celebration. Under Bush Social Security Plan, Wall Street Gains, Retirees Lose Sept. 29 Wall Street firms would enjoy a whopping $940 billion windfall while retirees would see their benefits tumble, if President George W. Bush pushes through his plan to privatize Social Security, according to a new report. This would be by far the largest windfall for financial managers in American financial history, says Austan Goolsbee, the economics professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, who wrote the report, The Fees of Private Accounts and the Impact of Social Security Privatization on Financial Managers. Workers Stand to Lose 20 Percent of Retirement Income Bush wants to replace Social Security’s guaranteed benefits partly with private accounts. Financial firms such as banks, insurance companies and mutual fund companies would charge fees to manage those accounts, and workers would lose 20 percent of their retirement income subsidizing those fees, according to the report. Using a conservative estimate that firms would charge .8 percent of the value of the private accounts each year, Goolsbee finds companies would reap $940 billion over 75 years. That’s 25 percent of financial institutions’ expected revenues during that period. By any measure, these fees would be immensely lucrative for private financial managers in the U.S., says Goolsbee. Bush Plans to Privatize Social Security if He Returns to Office Bush has been pushing to privatize Social Security for more than five years--most recently reiterating his drive when he accepted the Republican nomination for president. In contrast, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) supports strengthening protections for workers’ retirement security, including traditional defined-benefit pensions, 401(k) plans and Social Security, and Kerry has pledged not to privatize Social Security. 2004 Election Will Decide Fate of NLRB Labor Research Associates reports, “The outcome of the 2004 presidential election will determine the viability and the direction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting workers ‘ rights and conducting elections for union representation. The five-member NLRB is now controlled by Bush appointees. The winner of the November election will control new appointments for all five seats plus the crucial general counsel position. One NLRB member s term expires in December of this year; two expire in 2005, one in 2006, and one in 2007. The general counsel’s term expires in June 2005. The composition of the NLRB members over the next presidential term will set the direction for the board at a crucial juncture in its history. Within the next four years, 33 percent of the entire NLRB staff will be eligible for retirement, and one third of those are supervisors. Hiring and training replacements for this large group of NLRB staffers will heavily influence the fairness and quality of the agency's work for decades to come. The next president will also determine if the NLRB will be rebuilt as a viable agency or will continue to be limited by low budgets and understaffing.” MORE Job Tracker Launched Find out who’s exporting jobs Americas workers know their jobs are being shipped overseas. They know that this trend is driving down their wages and benefits, while CEOs and corporations are making huge profits. But average workers have no way to actually see how this vast, global corporate system actually works - - they have no way to track this multinational race to the bottom. Until now. Working America and the AFL-CIO launch the Job Tracker, a brand new tool that, for the first time, puts in the hands of workers information on U.S. businesses that are exporting jobs from their local communities. See it at www.workingamerica.org. They pored through WARN notices, TAA databases, SEC filings and more to bring to the public a tool that communicates the breadth and depth of Americas job crisis. Since January 2001, America has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs and over 850,000 professional service and information sector jobs. Over nine-hundred thousand manufacturing jobs were sent overseas between 2000 and 2003. Job Tracker demonstrates that over 200,000 U.S. companies and subsidiaries are exporting jobs or losing jobs to trade. Help Center for Laid-Off Workers Closes Sept 17—United Way of the Plains announced today the closing of the Help Center for Laid-Off Workers after helping 2,199 laid-off workers since December 2001. The final session for the Help Center will be October 1. United Way of the Plains has coordinated the Help Center, which is a collaborative work among numerous nonprofit, governmental and other organizations providing a one-stop outlet of services for local laid-off workers. The Help Center for Laid-Off Workers has opened once per month for 34 months. Of the individuals assisted, 60 percent were aircraft workers, 40 percent non-aircraft workers; 80 percent were from Wichita and 20 percent from surrounding towns. Total United Way financial assistance to laid-off workers has been $1,207,221. “At the end of 2001, the Wichita area faced an employment ‘disaster’ which affected the area much like a natural disaster would,” said United Way of the Plains President Patrick J. Hanrahan. “As with a tornado or flood, United Way responded to provide temporary assistance; we brought together various nonprofit, government and corporate organizations to meet the needs. United Way and our many partners provided budget counseling, emergency financial assistance for food and shelter and information about other programs.” REPORT: Kansas Kids and Public Schools Left Behind Every child in Kansas should be guaranteed a great public education. The basic building blocks are clear - quality pre-school, small classes, skilled teachers, safe and modern schools, afterschool programs and affordable college. But the White House and Congress are failing to provide the basics. Worse, the White House has written up a plan to slash education programs in their first budget after the election. Broken Promises on Pre-School Kids should have quality pre-school to get ready to learn. Head Start gives children the academic prep and nutrition and health services that they need. VICTORY ON OVERTIME AMENDMENT Tiahart, Ryun vote for pay cut; Moore Supports Workers The U.S. House of Representatives handed President Bush a significant defeat today when it voted to overturn the Department of Labor’s overtime takeaway rule. Twenty-two members of his own party joined all Democrats in voting to block the rule, which is estimated to take away federal overtime protection from six million workers. The U.S. economy has lost a million jobs since Bush took office and recent Census Bureau data show that household income is declining. Voting wrong were Kansas Congressmen Todd Tiahrt, Jim Ryun, and Jerry Moran. Voting to protect workers was Congressman Dennis Moore. Look for the Union Label in Cyberspace: New Website Offers Union-Made Goods and Services WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 7: The Union Label went digital today with a new web site offering shoppers an array of union-made gifts, from clothing and chocolates to computers, games and greeting cards. The web site, www.shopunionmade.org , launches on the eve of the fall and winter holidays, when shoppers will spend an estimated $1 trillion on gifts, food, drinks and other seasonal items, explained Matt Bates, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department. The all-union shopping site, however, will be a year-round operation because that is what consumers demand, he added. "Shoppers spent $56 billion in Internet sales last year, and on-line spending is doubling every two to three years. Everyday we receive email and calls from people who want to support good jobs by buying union-made goods and services. The web site will reach millions of people, 24 hours a day, with a quick convenient way to shop union," Bates said. "The public is ready for this. People have seen millions of good jobs disappear and they are looking for ways to take a stand and make a difference," he added. The AFL-CIO will target the peak of the holiday shopping season by promoting "Buy Union Week" Nov. 26 through Dec. 5. The newly-launched, all-union shopping site will be a cornerstone of that campaign. Most Dangerous Companies in Kansas The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health has alerted approximately 13,000 employers throughout the country that their injury and illness rates were at least twice the national average and encourages them to take steps to address safety and health hazards in the workplace. In Kansas, 270 employers were sent letters by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration due to higher-than-average workplace injury and illness rates. The list of Kansas companies receiving the notice by way of a letter from OSHA administrator John Henshaw includes a variety of businesses ranging from printers to retailers to construction companies and aviation subcontractors. Kansas Workbeat examined the list and presents them by company, by city, and by zip code. Election Results Reserved for October Election Results Take a look at some of the claims and facts about the issues working families care most about: CLAIM: President Bush has created 1.7 million new jobs. FACT: America has lost a net 1.6 million private-sector jobs since January 2001, according to the government’s own statistics. Yes, we’re beginning to gain jobs, but we’ve lost even more. We haven’t even seen enough new jobs created to keep up with population growth. In reality, Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs. CLAIM: Unemployment is down. FACT: It’s down from its highest point because so many unemployed workers have given up looking for jobs. If they were still looking, Krugman says, the unemployment rate would be a whopping 7.4 percent. CLAIM: The recession and terrorist attacks caused today’s budget deficit. FACT: The president’s massive tax cuts for the rich are responsible for about two-thirds of the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. President Bush inherited a $230 billion budget surplus and in less than four years turned it into a $422 billion deficit that our children still will be paying off years down the road. CLAIM: Tax cuts have created jobs and helped working people. FACT: The president’s tax cuts have been a bonanza for the rich, not the middle class. Most of the tax benefits went to the wealthiest, with one-third lining the pockets of people whose incomes exceed $1 million a year. Read The New York Times column for yourself and share it with others who will watch the debate. Click on the link below (you may need to register quickly before viewing):

It has been another challenging month for Learjet and its employees. Building 9 and Buildings 1-5, Flight Test and Completions are still behind schedule and working massive amounts of overtime. Building 9 is having problems getting training and retaining employees in the SMA classification.

Welcome to Local Lodge 639's monthly meeting. Let's get right to the news, starting with Buildings 1 through 5.

Building 1 and the 40/45 line. Terry Carrington and I have met with the Company on the topics of concern for the 40/45 line. We have worked through and resolved many of the issues that were raised. We are waiting on management's response in writing to decide what further action will be necessary. You all know the major concerns, such as working out of classification, massive overtime, communication, and moving the plane to the next position without the work being accomplished. The Company is telling us that they need more input. They have requested that we pass on to you their request to start using the PBL (Process-Based Leadership).

In your crew meetings is the time for you to be vocal and utilize the pass up/pass down to help address the concerns this line has with the manufacturing process. I strongly suggest that you begin this process. The senior management team needs to hear what is on your minds.

I would like to thank Charlie Ahlstedt for his years in the IAM. Charlie has been a member of LL 639 from the first day it started. He celebrated his 35th year with Learjet this month. Charlie is a inspector on the 60 model wing line in building 9 and is looking forward to retirement next year. We will miss him when he leaves. Pat Holliday and Terry Kyle came by with his many fellow workers for his 35th celebration.

Sept. 29 Wall Street firms would enjoy a whopping $940 billion windfall while retirees would see their benefits tumble, if President George W. Bush pushes through his plan to privatize Social Security, according to a new report.

This would be by far the largest windfall for financial managers in American financial history, says Austan Goolsbee, the economics professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, who wrote the report, The Fees of Private Accounts and the Impact of Social Security Privatization on Financial Managers.

Bush wants to replace Social Security’s guaranteed benefits partly with private accounts. Financial firms such as banks, insurance companies and mutual fund companies would charge fees to manage those accounts, and workers would lose 20 percent of their retirement income subsidizing those fees, according to the report.

Using a conservative estimate that firms would charge .8 percent of the value of the private accounts each year, Goolsbee finds companies would reap $940 billion over 75 years. That’s 25 percent of financial institutions’ expected revenues during that period.

By any measure, these fees would be immensely lucrative for private financial managers in the U.S., says Goolsbee.

Bush Plans to Privatize Social Security if He Returns to Office
Bush has been pushing to privatize Social Security for more than five years--most recently reiterating his drive when he accepted the Republican nomination for president.

In contrast, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) supports strengthening protections for workers’ retirement security, including traditional defined-benefit pensions, 401(k) plans and Social Security, and Kerry has pledged not to privatize Social Security.

2004 Election Will Decide Fate of NLRB

Labor Research Associates reports, “The outcome of the 2004 presidential election will determine the viability and the direction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting workers ‘ rights and conducting elections for union representation.

The five-member NLRB is now controlled by Bush appointees. The winner of the November election will control new appointments for all five seats plus the crucial general counsel position. One NLRB member s term expires in December of this year; two expire in 2005, one in 2006, and one in 2007. The general counsel’s term expires in June 2005.

The composition of the NLRB members over the next presidential term will set the direction for the board at a crucial juncture in its history. Within the next four years, 33 percent of the entire NLRB staff will be eligible for retirement, and one third of those are supervisors. Hiring and training replacements for this large group of NLRB staffers will heavily influence the fairness and quality of the agency's work for decades to come.

The next president will also determine if the NLRB will be rebuilt as a viable agency or will continue to be limited by low budgets and understaffing.” MORE

Job Tracker Launched Find out who’s exporting jobs

Americas workers know their jobs are being shipped overseas. They know that this trend is driving down their wages and benefits, while CEOs and corporations are making huge profits. But average workers have no way to actually see how this vast, global corporate system actually works - - they have no way to track this multinational race to the bottom.

Until now. Working America and the AFL-CIO launch the Job Tracker, a brand new tool that, for the first time, puts in the hands of workers information on U.S. businesses that are exporting jobs from their local communities. See it at www.workingamerica.org.

They pored through WARN notices, TAA databases, SEC filings and more to bring to the public a tool that communicates the breadth and depth of Americas job crisis.

Since January 2001, America has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs and over 850,000 professional service and information sector jobs. Over nine-hundred thousand manufacturing jobs were sent overseas between 2000 and 2003.

Job Tracker demonstrates that over 200,000 U.S. companies and subsidiaries are exporting jobs or losing jobs to trade.

The Help Center for Laid-Off Workers has opened once per month for 34 months. Of the individuals assisted, 60 percent were aircraft workers, 40 percent non-aircraft workers; 80 percent were from Wichita and 20 percent from surrounding towns. Total United Way financial assistance to laid-off workers has been $1,207,221.

“At the end of 2001, the Wichita area faced an employment ‘disaster’ which affected the area much like a natural disaster would,” said United Way of the Plains President Patrick J. Hanrahan. “As with a tornado or flood, United Way responded to provide temporary assistance; we brought together various nonprofit, government and corporate organizations to meet the needs. United Way and our many partners provided budget counseling, emergency financial assistance for food and shelter and information about other programs.”

Every child in Kansas should be guaranteed a great public education. The basic building blocks are clear - quality pre-school, small classes, skilled teachers, safe and modern schools, afterschool programs and affordable college. But the White House and Congress are failing to provide the basics. Worse, the White House has written up a plan to slash education programs in their first budget after the election.

Broken Promises on Pre-School
Kids should have quality pre-school to get ready to learn. Head Start gives children the academic prep and nutrition and health services that they need.

VICTORY ON OVERTIME AMENDMENT
Tiahart, Ryun vote for pay cut; Moore Supports Workers

The U.S. House of Representatives handed President Bush a significant defeat today when it voted to overturn the Department of Labor’s overtime takeaway rule. Twenty-two members of his own party joined all Democrats in voting to block the rule, which is estimated to take away federal overtime protection from six million workers. The U.S. economy has lost a million jobs since Bush took office and recent Census Bureau data show that household income is declining.

Voting wrong were Kansas Congressmen Todd Tiahrt, Jim Ryun, and Jerry Moran. Voting to protect workers was Congressman Dennis Moore.

Look for the Union Label in Cyberspace: New Website Offers Union-Made Goods and Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 7: The Union Label went digital today with a new web site offering shoppers an array of union-made gifts, from clothing and chocolates to computers, games and greeting cards.

The web site, www.shopunionmade.org , launches on the eve of the fall and winter holidays, when shoppers will spend an estimated $1 trillion on gifts, food, drinks and other seasonal items, explained Matt Bates, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department.

The all-union shopping site, however, will be a year-round operation because that is what consumers demand, he added.

"Shoppers spent $56 billion in Internet sales last year, and on-line spending is doubling every two to three years. Everyday we receive email and calls from people who want to support good jobs by buying union-made goods and services. The web site will reach millions of people, 24 hours a day, with a quick convenient way to shop union," Bates said.
"The public is ready for this. People have seen millions of good jobs disappear and they are looking for ways to take a stand and make a difference," he added.
The AFL-CIO will target the peak of the holiday shopping season by promoting "Buy Union Week" Nov. 26 through Dec. 5. The newly-launched, all-union shopping site will be a cornerstone of that campaign.

Most Dangerous Companies in Kansas

The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health has alerted approximately 13,000 employers throughout the country that their injury and illness rates were at least twice the national average and encourages them to take steps to address safety and health hazards in the workplace.

In Kansas, 270 employers were sent letters by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration due to higher-than-average workplace injury and illness rates.

The list of Kansas companies receiving the notice by way of a letter from OSHA administrator John Henshaw includes a variety of businesses ranging from printers to retailers to construction companies and aviation subcontractors. Kansas Workbeat examined the list and presents them by company, by city, and by zip code.

Take a look at some of the claims and facts about the issues working families care most about:

CLAIM: President Bush has created 1.7 million new jobs.
FACT: America has lost a net 1.6 million private-sector jobs since January 2001, according to the government’s own statistics. Yes, we’re beginning to gain jobs, but we’ve lost even more. We haven’t even seen enough new jobs created to keep up with population growth. In reality, Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs.

CLAIM: Unemployment is down.
FACT: It’s down from its highest point because so many unemployed workers have given up looking for jobs. If they were still looking, Krugman says, the unemployment rate would be a whopping 7.4 percent.

CLAIM: The recession and terrorist attacks caused today’s budget deficit.
FACT: The president’s massive tax cuts for the rich are responsible for about two-thirds of the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. President Bush inherited a $230 billion budget surplus and in less than four years turned it into a $422 billion deficit that our children still will be paying off years down the road.

CLAIM: Tax cuts have created jobs and helped working people.
FACT: The president’s tax cuts have been a bonanza for the rich, not the middle class. Most of the tax benefits went to the wealthiest, with one-third lining the pockets of people whose incomes exceed $1 million a year.

Read The New York Times column for yourself and share it with others who will watch the debate. Click on the link below (you may need to register quickly before viewing):