Fellow Local Lodge 774 Brothers and Sisters...

This year, 2009, we will have a dues increase of $5.60 a month, which works out to $1.40 a week. Before you get all excited, lets go over what this means and where it came from.

The Grand Lodge has a convention every four years. As you remember, in September 2008 we sent our elected Local Lodge 774 delegates to the convention to conduct the business of the International Association of Machinists.

The International had proposed to peg dues to 2% of gross wages, which would have about doubled our dues. That proposal failed to gather enough votes from the delegates present to pass. Our delegation lobbied against this proposal and in concert with other "Right to work for less" state delegations were successful in passing an alternative.

The IAM presently has between 360,000 and 400,000 members. Membership has been almost cut in half, due in large part to the movement of IAM represented manufacturing jobs out of the United States. The budget of the International is about $100 million per year in fixed costs. When we had more members this budget could be met without an increase. The debate leading up to the Grand Lodge Convention was whether enough had been done to cut expenses to reflect our loss of members. The International made the case that to further cut expenses would cut services in the long run to members, and our elected delegates felt they made their case. However, the numbers shown to the delegates meant that the shortfall could be made up with a lower dues increase than asked for, and that's what ultimately prevailed. The delegates also felt that going to a percentage increase was not a good idea for several reasons and voted it down.

However, this still left the issue of the International running in the red. What ultimately prevailed was a surcharge, ok, an increase of $4.91 per month per member. We will review the International's funding again in 4 years at the next Grand Lodge meeting, if necessary.

With that background we can look at the increases. You know that our union is organized in a series of lodges. This terminology reflects our origins in the late 19th century, and we have retained the language. We are Local Lodge 774, a member of District Lodge 70, which is essentially the IAM unions in Wichita and central Kansas. District 70 is a member of the Southern Region, which in turn is one of 7 regions in the International. The Grand Lodge meets every 4 years and conducts the business that pertains to International.

Our local and the AFL-CIO DID NOT raise our dues.

I feel that it's important to understand that all of these increases have been worked out with the participation of all of the unions involved through our elected delegates. All positions in our Local, District 70, the Wichita/ Hutchinson Labor Federation and the Grand Lodge with the power to vote on dues increases are elected positions. The workers who started this union in 1888 planned it that way and we're not about to change. Our union is a democratic institution. These are the decisions of our elected Representatives. That is why elections are so important. That is why it is in the interest of every member to participate in voting. In December our union, Local 774, had a special board meeting to discuss the implications of the dues increases. Susan Thompson, our treasurer, explained that your local is in fine shape as long as we remain frugal in our expenses. ANY INCREASE IN DUES BY YOUR LOCAL WOULD BE DEBATED AND VOTED ON BY THE MEMBERSHIP AT A MONTHLY MEETING. We are not, repeat, NOT raising the dues of the local. The other dues increases we have limited power over, and we did limit them as I described above. The short take on the local dues, is that we need to be frugal in 2009, and we know frugal. Our bottom line is, our dues will go to $47.28 a month, or $11.82 per week starting Jan. 1, 2009. If you have any other amount, contact your steward and we will get it fixed.

If you've read this far, I commend you for your interest. My point of view is that our funding and membership in the IAM gives us tremendous opportunities and tools to improve our working lives, and with your participation we can continue to be a positive force for working people. I encourage you to participate further- visit the web site, read the newsletter, join one of the new committees that are forming to deal with our changing workplace.

Any questions or suggestions about this very brief summary, please e-mail me at UnionBro774

In solidarity,

Martin Eddy
President, Local Lodge 774