Convention Delegates Approve New Financial Plan
 

Local 1976 Delegate Frank Schifano was among dozens of members who participated in a spirited debate about a new financial plan for the IAM.

Just as delegates to the IAM Convention in 1976 approved the Program for Progress that saw the union through more than three decades, delegates at the 37th Grand Lodge Convention ensured the IAM has a sound financial base to carry the union into the future with the resources necessary to take on corporations and hostile governments.

A university professor described the IAM at Boeing as “the wrong union to mess with” in the New York Times and an aerospace industry analyst called the IAM “one of the last unions with any power in this country.” The action delegates took will ensure the IAM will be described in such terms for years to come.

Delegates lined up at the microphones to express their strong feelings on both sides of the issue, but all expressed their commitment as trade unionists. IAM President Tom Buffenbarger gave an impassioned address on the responsibility all members have to keep the union strong for the next generation. “My father was at the 1976 Convention, and I know the fathers of many of you in this room were there, too,” declared Buffenbarger. “I want to see a great union for our children and grandchildren – that’s what we’re here to do today.”

The approved proposal takes into account the needs expressed by delegates and lodges to keep the current method of calculating the Grand Lodge per capita tax largely intact. To keep the IAM financially strong, delegates approved a one-time increase of $4.00 in the 2009 Grand Lodge per capita tax. Coupled with the normal weighted average estimated increase of 3.02 percent, or 78 cents, the total increase for 2009 is $4.78, or the equivalent of just 2.76 cents per hour.

There will be a normal increase of an estimated 80 cents in 2010. In 2011 there will be a one-time increase of $2.00 in the per capita base rate and then annual increases will be pegged to the Consumer Price Index.

Local Lodges will have the ability to set their own dues rates and collection methods based on their own needs. Also, provisions remain for the International President to grant special dispensations in certain circumstances.

“It doesn’t matter what position you took, your character and strength were outstanding,” said Buffenbarger. “We are one union of one mind with a common cause of taking care of the brothers and sisters throughout the union.”