Spotlite November 2019.Indd
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ILCA Labor Media Award WWinnerr Monthly Publication NNovemberovember 22019019 Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) Bargaining Unit Council officers The Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) Council Reps elected (from left) Tonya Sanders, Emily Forest and Ponolar (Evette) Washington to serve as Bargaining Unit Council officers (BUC). Forest is chair, Washington is vice chair and Sanders is secretary. The WTPU BUC planned to elect its SPEEA Negotiation Team Oct. 24, after this issue of Spotlite went to the printer. See story – P2. Negotiations next steps – P2 Boeing open enrollment – P5-7 New office for CREATE – P8 Volume 63, Number 11, November 2019 ISSN 0194-8687 President Joel Funfar Executive Director Ray Goforth Executive Board Jimmie Mathis Treasurer Ryan Rule Secretary Mike Shea NW Regional VP Members are shown here at a lunchtime meeting Oct. 10 in Wichita. Council Reps for District S-18 hosted the meeting to Daniel Peters NW Regional VP help answer members’ questions about the process for contract negotiations. The contract doesn’t expire until January 2021, Dan Nowlin NW Regional VP but the Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) Bargaining Unit Council voted to hold early negotiations with Keith Covert MW Regional VP Spirit AeroSystems. SPEEA Council Officers Tony Hickerson Chair Next steps in negotiations Michelle Cooper Treasurer Ben Blankley Secretary for two SPEEA bargaining units Midwest Regional Council Officers PEEA members and staff are preparing for place of the current contract. If no agreement is R Matthew Joyce Chair negotiations with Spirit AeroSystems and reached or is turned down by a vote of members, Chris Streckfus Treasurer SThe Boeing Company. When the SPEEA the existing contract remains in effect until it Emily Forest Secretary Negotiations Teams form, the members receive expires in January 2021. Northwest Regional Council Officers special training and work with staff. Members in the Midwest are attending lunch- James Raskob Chair Mike Arrington Treasurer Wichita Technical and time meetings to learn more about the process, ask questions and share their input. Doug Brazeal Secretary Professional Unit SPEEA Publications SPEEA Pilot/Instructors Unit The Wichita Technical and Professional Unit Bill Dugovich Communications Director (WTPU) Bargaining Unit Council (BUC) The SPEEA Pilot/Instructors Unit (SPIU) con- Lori Dupuis Graphic Designer/Web Developer planned to elect a negotiation team Oct. 24. tract with Boeing expires in March. Members Karen McLean Publications Editor of the bargaining unit are encouraged to apply Amber Musselman Communications Support A total of 12 applied to serve on the team after for the SPEEA Negotiation Team. [email protected] • www.speea.org attending an orientation session to learn more about the process and time commitment. Negotiation Team members help evaluate changes and updates needed to the existing published monthly by: If early negotiations result in a tentative agree- contract and work with SPEEA staff to prepare Society of Professional Engineering Employees ment with Spirit AeroSystems that is ratified by for and directly negotiate with Boeing. in Aerospace, IFPTE Local 2001, AFL-CIO, CLC a vote of members, the new contract takes the 15205 52nd Ave. S • Seattle, WA 98188 • 206-433-0991 Reproduction rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission. When permission is granted, Helping Other People Excel (HOPE) material must be used in context and credit given to the SPEEA SPOTLITE. Award nominations due Jan. 17 Original articles and feedback are solicited. Subscription rate: $2.00 per year. he SPEEA Council seeks nominations How to nominate $2.00 of the annual membership dues is paid as a for the next Stephen Pezzini Helping year’s subscription to the SPEEA SPOTLITE. Other People Excel (HOPE) award. This Email [email protected] by Friday, Jan. 17, with T your contact information, nominee’s contact infor- POSTMASTER: Address changes to: The SPEEA SPOTLITE, is one of SPEEA’s highest honors. mation and a description of why you are nomi- 15205 52nd Ave. S, Seattle WA 98188. This award honors the memory of an Everett nating this SPEEA member. Details regarding the Periodicals Postage Paid at Seattle, Washington Council Rep whose life was an inspiration member’s SPEEA and community involvement because of his service to union co-workers and are necessary. Information about how the person’s SEATTLE HALL his community. Stephen Pezzini died at age efforts made a difference is helpful. 15205 52nd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98188 36 of cancer. SPEEA presented the first Pezzini M-Th, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Fri, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. award in 1997 in his memory. Apply for nomination committee Phone: 206-433-0991 • 1-800-325-0811 Award criteria Members can apply for the committee reviewing EVERETT HALL the nominations. If you are a SPEEA member 2414 106th St. SW, Everett, WA 98204 • A current dues-paying member in any interested in serving on this committee, send M-Fri, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. SPEEA bargaining unit your name and contact information to terryh@ Phone: 425-355-2883 • 1-800-325-0811 speea.org by Jan. 17. • Gives time and eff ort to benefi t the WICHITA HALL general community 4621 E 47th St. S, Wichita, KS 67210 • Active in SPEEA ‘beyond expectations’ M-Th, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Fri, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone: 316-682-0262 • 1-800-325-0811 2 SPEEA SPOTLITENOVEMBER 2019 President's Corner Inequality – For only a penny By Joel Funfar SPEEA President ncome inequality gets a lot of attention - .0598 inches. The average SPEEA member when SPEEA pressed The Boeing Company and today. Rightly so. The gap between the at retirement has between $1 and $2 million secured a retirement plan for members. That Ihighest and lowest paid in the workplace is in their VIP account, about 10 to 20 pennies, fight continues in every negotiation cycle and among the greatest it has ever been. That gap making their penny stack from half an inch to with every company where our members work. doesn’t end when you retire. It gets worse. about 1.2 inches high. Now, compare that to Companies want to reduce costs and put the Fidelity Investments – the holder of 16.2 mil- Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’ net worth of $110 billion. responsibility of funding retirement years on lion 401(k) accounts – recently reported the Bezos stack of pennies would be a whopping employees. SPEEA negotiators must constantly average 401(k) account balance at retirement 5,481 feet high. Wichita billionaire Charles remind them – sometimes very forcefully – that is $103,700. However, the median balance – Koch’s 50.5 billion would give him a stack of the value of the retirement benefit – whether in with half having more and have less – is just pennies 2,516 feet high. While less than half the a 401(k), lump sum, defined benefit or some $24,500. With savings so low, it’s clear Social height of Bezo’s, Koch’s stack is still twice the combination – must be maintained. The mech- Security is the major funding source for the height of the Eifel Tower, four times taller than anism for funding can change, but the value to majority of retirees. the Seattle Space Needle and 57 times higher the employee needs to be maintained. than Wichita’s Keeper of the Plains statue. Worries about inequality are nothing new. Retirement was not always an option. In 1880, Our nation’s founding fathers worried about Health care costs 78% of workers in the U.S. remained on the job inequality between the richest and poorest peo- after age 65. Today, about 18.6% work past age Often overlooked is the fact that even with 65. But that doesn’t mean things are heading in ple. Thomas Jefferson felt strongly that the rich Medicare, medical coverage in retirement eats should be taxed – including an estate tax – to the right direction because in 1985, only 10.4% up a substantial amount of income. What worked past 65. prevent an American nobility from forming. people generally think of as Medicare is really However, it took until 1898 before a federal just Medicare Part A, which only covers inpa- As aerospace professionals with better than estate tax was imposed. tient hospital care and other major expenses. average salaries and benefits, it might be easy However, Part A does not cover preventive care, to sit back and enjoy our good fortune. That’s a Untended economy supplies, routine services and the majority of mistake. We must remain vigilant and attuned Seattle’s Nick Hanauer – worth an estimated $1 prescription drugs. For that, you’ll need to buy to the problems brought on by wage and retire- billion – famously wrote about inequality a few additional coverage by purchasing a plan that ment inequality. We must keep our unions years back while advocating for the $15 an hour covers Medicare Part B and D. And don’t forget strong because the collective power of workers minimum wage. Hanauer wrote that economies to brush your teeth and eat your carrots because in a labor union is what brought us good salaries must be tended because they are not naturally fair none of those plans cover dental or eye care. and benefits. And, the difference between us or stable. Left untended, they give advantages to and the super-rich is more than the height of some and disadvantage others. Today’s inequality A recent estimate by HealthView Services found one or two or even 1,000 pennies. is arguably the worst it’s ever been. As Hanauer that an average 66-year-old couple can expect to said in his article, when a fix comes in situations spend about 50% of their Social Security check like ours, it’s generally bad for everyone.