October - IAM Local Lodge 839

PAGE 1
OCTOBER 2008
International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers
Local Lodge 839
3917 E. MacArthur Rd.
Get Registered and Vote
By Larry Stafford, Editor
Everyone has been telling us for
months that this is the most important
election of our lifetimes. Our economy
is in a mess, our Country is in a mess.
Our future as a Country, as a people and
as a Union hangs in the balance.
This election, we as a Union and as a workforce,
need to put aside the single position points that have divided
us in the past. We need to look at the candidates in
the presidential election, and vote as a cohesive unit for
the candidates who support labor. We have to get people
elected from all parties who support the middle class and
will keep our jobs here at home. We have to get people
elected from all parties who will not force our kids and
grand kids to pay for the greed and corruption that has
been going on way too long from both parties. We have
to get people elected from all parties who will listen to
their constituents and do what is best for them and not
cower to big business so they will have a cushy job when
they finally leave office.
The first thing you need to do is to register to
vote or at least check to see if you are registered. If you
live in Sedgwick County go to
http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/elections/ and see if you
are registered by clicking on that link. If you are not, you
can link to the registration form. Here is some of that information
from the site:
Registration is open now! Click this Voter Registration
link to download a form that you can fill out,
print, sign, and mail, fax or drop by the Election Office at
your convenience.
You should register if you:
• Just moved into Sedgwick County
• Just turned 18 years old or will be 18 before the next
election
• Just became a United States citizen
• Have never voted before in Sedgwick County
If you are already registered, you should reregister
if you:
• Moved within Sedgwick County
• Changed your name
• Want to change your party affiliation
Now that you are registered, you can find your polling
place from that site also. If you do not live in Sedgwick
County, contact your county’s election office. Do it now, do
it today.
To save a lot of study of the candidates and their
position, the Wichita/Hutchison Labor Federation has done
the homework for you. They put together a COPE Team to
vet the candidates on labor issues. They sent
all of the local candidates a survey and invited
them to a COPE interview meeting
where they could explain their views. The
National candidates were also vetted by using
their voting record. You will find all of
these recommendations by reading the October issue of the
Plain Dealer or logging onto http://www.ksworkbeat.org
where you will find a special voter guide to study.
These COPE members took a great deal of time to
interview these candidates
and there are
KEY VOTING DATES
some explanations
for those decisions.
The candidates they
have recommended
are the ones we, as a
Union, should be
voting for. Put aside
all of the single issue
positions that have
divided us and this
Advance Voting Begins Oct. 15
Absentee Ballots Available Oct. 16
Registration Deadline Oct. 20
Election Day Nov. 4
www.aflcio.org/politics/KS.cfm
www.sedgwickcounty.org/elections
country, and vote for the best interests of Labor. Your jobs
and your family’s jobs are at stake.
Phone Bank efforts are underway! The phone bank is
located at District 70. The phones will be operated from 6:30 to
8:30 each of the nights listed below. There are 20 phones and each
local needs to recruit enough members to man all of them. As you
can see LL839 will be banking on Oct. 21 st . If you can help on the
21 st , call the office. If any group would like to handle an open
night please call Jake Lowen, COPE Director at 316-941-4061.
Oct 7 - IAM 639
Oct 8 - APWU
Oct 9 -
Oct 14-
Oct 15 - SPEEA
Oct 16 - UTW
Oct 21- IAM 839
Oct 22 -
Oct 23 - NALC
Oct 28 - IAM 733
Oct 29 -
Oct 30 - UTW

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 2 OCTOBER 2008
Letter of Support from LL839
To LL735
To the Sisters and Brothers at Local Lodge 735;
Tennessee Machinists
On Strike at Vought
From: www.iam735.blogspot.com
Nearly 1,000 Machinists are on strike at
Vought Aircraft Industries in Nashville, TN, after
voting to reject a company offer that would replace
the existing pension plan for many employees with a
risky 401(k) plan.
“It is beyond irresponsible for a successful
company like Vought to insist on a 401(k) plan in
lieu of a secure defined benefit pension plan,” said
IP Tom Buffenbarger. “It is this kind of arrogance
and blind faith in Wall Street that is costing millions
of employees their retirement security at this very
moment.”
Members of Local 735 in Nashville, TN,
assemble wing and tail structures for commercial
and military aircraft customers, including Airbus,
Gulfstream, Cessna and Lockheed Martin.
“The contract offer is riddled with takeaways,”
said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez.
“Besides the pension, the offer erodes seniority
rights, has substandard pay increases, and increases
out-of-pocket expenses for health care. The workers
are right to reject it and the IAM stands with them.”
Not unlike Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita,
KS, where Machinists recently concluded a successful
strike, Vought is a highly profitable aerospace
company, with numerous contracts and additional
work on the way.
Despite Tennessee’s status as a right-towork
(for less) state, the bargaining unit at Vought
is keenly aware of the value of full membership,
with more than 90 percent taking full advantage of
their collective bargaining rights.
“This Local is very strong, with great leadership
from their Negotiating Committee,” said
Aerospace Coordinator Ron Eldridge. “They understand
they’re fighting for their future.”
I am Kathy Petersen, President of Local Lodge 839 in Wichita,
KS at Spirit AeroSystems. I write to forward the support of the
members of our Local Lodge. We have received information
that Vought Aircraft is demanding to freeze the pensions for
employees with less than 16 years of service, and we urge you
to reject these demands in the strongest terms possible. Every
contract we fight to keep and improve our pensions, and Machinists
in the aerospace industry have NOT been giving up
pensions, and we should not start now.
Like your facility, we are a subcontractor, and we are in the
same market as you are. Good wages and benefits at our facility
and dependent upon BOTH contracts are strong contracts
with good wages and benefits. We can lift each other up, on
successive contracts. Our companies may be competitors, but
we are in the boat together; we are sisters and brothers.
We went through a painful time three years ago when the
Commercial Aircraft portion of Wichita's Boeing facility (was
sold). During the sale, our Local fought hard for our pensions,
and while our Boeing pensions were frozen, our Solidarity
won us the IAM Pension Plan for the future, at $60 per month
per year of service. We had a five-year contract with a economic
opener this year, where we couldn't strike. The company
essentially gave us nothing, and this was a valuable lesson,
one we hope you will take to heart.
Companies will GIVE you nothing. You get ONLY what you
are strong enough to TAKE. We are gearing up for what we
consider will be a likely strike in 2010, and our local WILL
NOT roll over for corporate greed.
If they are trying to sell you a 401(k) for giving away your
pension, IT IS A SCAM, one that you shouldn't accept. We are
all the Fighting Machinists, and if you need to fight, we will
be standing with you. Good luck to you all.
Kathy Petersen,
President,
Local Lodge 839
Wichita, KS.
Additional information about the strike is available
at www.iam735.blogspot.com

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 3 OCTOBER 2008
Boeing Strike Up-Date
By Becky Ledbetter, Business Representative
To all my LL839 Brothers and Sisters out there, please stay strong, as this strike
continues. Remain in support of our LL834 Brothers and Sisters across the street who are hanging tough
through this battle. The membership at LL834 is still resilient as the count is 14 members have crossed. This is not their
first rodeo and they know they must stay out just one more day. I want to thank the tooling department who informed
me that Boeing Military had brought a couple of B-52 tools across the street to your shops to work on. I gave the numbers
to my boss and they had them removed immediately. I closed 3 more grievances out and still have 7 open that labor
and I are working. Inspectors please hang in there. I will have to meet with your director to try to get resolution for your
issue. We know things are going to get tuff but hold on and “Get Ready to Fight and Win in 2010.”
Latest from www.goiam.org on Boeing
From: http://www.goiam.org
Ronnie Ketron with International President Tom Buffenbarger
ready to join the picket line, Saturday October 4th.
Global Support for Boeing Strikers
From: http://www.goiam.org
International labor federations representing
millions of workers around the world are weighing in
with expressions of support for IAM members now in
the third week of a strike at the Boeing Company.
Letters of solidarity and support have poured
in from twenty-two union federations in Europe, Australia,
Denmark, Italy, Spain and elsewhere. Each display
a keen understanding of the battle at Boeing and
the need for international solidarity in a time of unrestrained
outsourcing and rampant globalization.
“We will do everything we can to ensure this
company and others are under no illusions that if you
take on organized labour, wherever that may be, you
take us on internationally,” said Steve Turner, National
Secretary of the London-based Transport
Ground Workers Union.
International President Tom Buffenbarger joined
IAM members this weekend on picket lines outside Boeing
facilities in Everett, WA, Portland, OR and Wichita, KS,
where the strike over wages, pensions, health care and job
security is entering its second month.
“This strike matters to every IAM member in North
America,” said Buffenbarger. “When a successful company
like Boeing refuses to protect the jobs of the men and
women who made those profits possible, we have no choice
but to take them on.”
In a recent memo to Boeing employees, Boeing
CEO James McNerney complained the strike was undermining
the company’s “reputation for reliability,” a curious
charge given Boeing's recent ethical blunders, outsourcing
woes and delivery snafus.
“The fact is our members have bent over backwards
for this Company to make them profitable,” said Aerospace
Coordinator and lead negotiator Mark Blondin. “We have
participated in every lean program, new initiative and offered
alternative ideas - all to make them successful. It is our
members who step up and get the job done for Boeing every
time. We will continue to do that, but not at the price of our
jobs.”
Despite a standing IAM offer to meet with Boeing
negotiators and regular contact with the federal mediator,
Boeing has refused to explore proposals on job security. The
IAM is seeking written contract language to ensure that jobs
historically performed by Machinist Union members will
continue to be performed by IAM members.
“The IAM is not on strike to harm Boeing or its customers,”
said Blondin. “However, we are on strike and our
members have made it clear that protection of IAM jobs and
the scope of IAM work is critical to getting a ratified agreement.”
Additional information about the strike is available
at www.iam751.org .

PAGE 4 OCTOBER 2008
From: http://action.slatteryforsenate.com
MACHINISTS MATTERS
In early 2008, the United States Air Force
awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to build refueling
tankers to Boeing's European competitor EADS/Airbus.
There were many opportunities for Pat Roberts to support
Boeing, a huge Wichita employer, and its workers, but
instead he sided with President Bush and Sen. John
McCain opening the door for a European company to
build the United States Air Force refueling tankers. An
article in Defense News from 2005 clearly documents
how a 'Buy American' provision could have saved Boeing
from its recent ordeal.
Instead, Roberts allowed the 'Buy American' provision
to be deleted from the legislation. During the contract
bidding process, Sen. Roberts' son, David Roberts,
was even lobbying on behalf of EADS. Ironically, Sen.
Roberts has started airing campaign ads touting his support
for Boeing and its workers. Kansas deserves a Senator
who puts his constituents in Wichita ahead of his
friends in Washington. Check out the timeline to the right
to learn about Roberts' role in putting Boeing in the position
of having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars
to fight for a contract Sen. Roberts should have helped
them secure long ago.
October 2001: Air Force proposes to lease 100 airrefueling
tankers from Boeing at a cost of $20 billion or
more (The Seattle Times, 3/1/2008).
May 2003: Sen. John McCain offers amendment allowing
the Department of Defense to buy equipment and services
from foreign companies, including EADS, undermining
"Buy American" rules. Sen. Roberts votes in favor
of this amendment.
November 2003: Boeing fires CFO Mike Sears and vice
president of missile-defense systems, Darleen Druyun. It
was found that Sears improperly offered Druyun a job
while she was still a top Air Force acquisitions officer
BOEING BLUNDER
Forty years in Washington will change
anyone, even Pat Roberts. When Pat
Roberts had a chance to stand-up for
Kansas jobs, and support Boeing—a
huge Wichita employer—Pat sided
with President Bush, John McCain,
and a European company to build U.S.
Air Force refueling tankers. Kansas
deserved—and deserves—better.
overseeing tanker contract (The
Seattle Times, 3/1/2008).
May 2004: Tanker leasing deal
introduced in October 2001 for
Boeing is dropped (The Seattle
Times, 3/1/2008).
January 2005: Roberts' son,
David Roberts, begins lobbying
for EADS on the FY2006 Defense
Authorization Act.
May 2005: A provision in the
FY2006 Defense Authorization Act, HR 1815 was drafted
to ELIMINATE Northrop Grumman/EADS ability to bid
on the Air Force tanker. Two Senate Committees allowed
this specific provision to be deleted. President Bush threatens
to veto the Defense Authorization Act if those provisions
are not deleted. Sen. Roberts was on BOTH committees
and obeyed President Bush's request to have the provisions
deleted.
September 2005: Northrop Grumman teams up with
EADS to bid for the tanker contract.
January 2006: David Roberts again lobbies on behalf of
EADS for the period of January 1, 2006-June 30, 2006.
April 2006: United States Air Force reopens procurement
process for replacing tankers (The Seattle Times,
3/1/2008).
January 2008: Mobile, AL wins contract with Northrop
Grumman/EADs to assemble commercial jets and Air
Force tankers if Northrop Grumman/EADS is awarded the
contract (The Seattle Times, 3/1/2008).
February 2008: The U.S. Air Force awards $35 billion
tanker contract to Northrop Grumman/EADS.
Today: Kansans and especially workers in Wichita are left
watching and waiting while the Air Force rebids the tanker
contract.

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 5 OCTOBER 2008
AFSCME President Delivers $100,000 for Boeing Strikers
From: http://www.goiam.org
Gerald W. McEntee, the International President
of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of City,
State and Municipal Workers (AFSCME), received a
sustained ovation from convention delegates in Orlando
when he announced a $100,000 donation to an IAM
strike assistance fund to help 27,000 IAM members on
strike at Boeing.
“I want you to know that AFSCME stands in
solidarity with all of you and with the 27,000 aerospace
workers in your struggle with Boeing,” said McEntee,
who noted the long and productive partnership between
the IAM and AFSCME.
“We stand with you. We stand beside you. And
let me tell you something, we always put our money
where our mouth is. So I have with me to give to your
President, a check for $100,000 to help you on your
strike at Boeing.”
Gerald McEntee donned the bright orange gear of The November
4th Team (TNT) and announced a $100,000 donation
to a strike assistance fund for IAM members at Boeing.
McEntee also addressed labor’s role in the upcoming elections and the importance of electing labor-friendly representatives.
“We have the best grassroots mechanism that the American Labor Movement has ever seen,” declared
McEntee. “And let me tell you this, we are going to be the biggest, baddest and boldest supporters of the Obama-Biden
ticket.”
Few Choice Words for the Next President
From: http://www.goiam.org
To the New President and Congress: “I urge you to enact the Employee Free
Choice Act immediately. This crucial legislation will protect workers’ freedom to choose a
union and bargain without management intimidation. Allowing more workers to freely join
unions and bargain with their employers will help rebuild the middle class by expanding
health care, improving retirement security and raising the standard of living for America’s
working families. My bargaining rights are worth working for and voting for!”
That’s the message on pre-printed postcards that are part of an AFL-CIO effort to
gather at least one million signatures on a petition urging the next president to sign the Employee Free Choice Act
(EFCA) without delay.
The EFCA (H.R. 800, S. 1041) is a top legislative priority for U.S. labor unions and would level the playing field for
workers and employers and help rebuild America’s middle class. It would establish stronger penalties for violation of
employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations and provide mediation and
arbitration for first-contract disputes. Most importantly, the Act would allow employees to form unions by signing cards
authorizing union representation.
Go to www.ll839.org and download the Free Choice Pledge

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 6 OCTOBER 2008
Nominations For LL839
in November
By Larry Stafford, Editor
Nominations for the Lodge Officers and
Lodge Delegates for the Standing Committees
for a three year term, will be held at the November
meeting on November the 8 th . Any member
of LL839 is eligible to run for these offices if
they qualify per Article X of the LL839 By-
Laws. An eligible member must have been a
member of the Lodge for one year at the time of
nomination. They must be free of delinquency of
any nature to the Grand Lodge, District Lodge
or the Local Lodge. They must qualify under
applicable provisions of the IAM Constitution,
and section 2 of Article XII of the Local By-
Laws. They must be present at the time of
nominations to accept said nomination or serve
written notice upon the Recording Secretary
that they would serve if nominated and elected.
They must be nominated by a member in good
standing. The following Officers and Delegates
will be nominated on November 8 th. These are
the openings per the Local’s membership:
President
Vice President
Recording Secretary Secretary-Treasurer
Conductor-Sentinel Trustees (3)
President of LL839 Resigns
By Larry Stafford, Editor
As everyone now knows, Gary Cochran, President
of LL839 has resigned for personal reasons. Brother Gary
has been a force in this Local, even when we were part of
Boeing, for many years. He has had a long a distinguished
career with the IAM. We all wish Brother Gary well in his
personal life and hope that he remains active in this Local.
Below is the E-Mail sent out to the Stewards to
announce this development.
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Gary Cochran has resigned his position as
President of Local Lodge 839. Per the International
Constitution, the Vice President completes the unexpired
term as President; therefore, I am the new President.
I will certainly do my best to fulfill the duties and
responsibilities of the office of the President of our Local,
and I would like to invite you to contact me anytime
with any concerns or questions. I will continue to work
toward an atmosphere of positive change and clearer
communication with the membership.
In Solidarity,
Kathy S. Petersen, President
LOCAL LODGE NO. 839
Journeyman Review Board (3)
Safety Committee (to be determined)
District Lodge No. 70, IAM, AFL-CIO (11)
Wichita Labor Federation, AFL-CIO (9)
Wichita Union Label & Services Trades Council,
AFL-CIO (15)
Kansas State Council of Machinists (3)
Audit Committee (3)
The election of the Officers and Delegates
will be held on December 13 th . The polls
will be open 6:00 am– 6:00 pm and the election
will be held at the District Office.
As usual, Tellers will be needed for that
election and a sign up sheet will be at the office.
No one on the ballot may be a Teller.
No campaigning or campaign literature
will displayed during the balloting and loitering
will not be tolerated.

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 7 OCTOBER 2008
Mark Love Accepts New Position
By Larry Stafford, Editor
Brother Mark Love, Business
Representative for District
lodge 70, has accepted a position
with the Grand Lodge. He is now a
Special Representative assigned to
the Southern Territory.
Mark Love hails from Local
834 in Wichita, KS, where he
served as Shop Steward, Vice
President, Organizer and Strike Coordinator
during the 1995 Boeing
strike. In May of 1997, Love took on the responsibility of
Organizer for District 70 and was elected Business Representative.
Love has also been President of the Wichita/Hutchinson
Labor Federation, and is currently President
of the Kansas State Council of Machinists and the Kansas
AFL-CIO.
Mark left last week and is currently in Tennessee
assisting Local 735 with the strike action they have with
Vought. As reported earlier, this strike there seems destined
to be similar to the Boeing strike.
A big thank you goes out to Brother Mark for all of
the hard work he did for Local 834, at District 70 and all
of the hard work he will provide the IAM&AW in his new
position. Good luck Mark.
In-plant Representative Report
By David Eagle and Howard “HoJo” Johnson
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We would like to thank everyone who has kept us informed
as to what has been going on since the Boeing Strike. We
have been meeting with the Spirit Company to resolve issues as
we have been notified of problems. Problems and questions have
ranged from the Company not wanting to honor seniority; to why
not just work Monday-Wednesday and shut the lights off, if the
Company really want to save money; why work ANY overtime,
etc.
We received no answers except that “management needs
to be creative to prevent a surplus. The only money that we can
see that the Company saved was from the salaries never paid out
to you.
Short Workweek language contained in Article 6, Section
6.1(b) has been in our IAM contracts since 1953, but it was
never used until the divestiture. The intent was not to utilize the
language in the fashion that it is has been being used. You can bet
this language, as well as lots of other language, will be looked at in
2010.
Community Service
We’re Back!
By Kathy Petersen
The members of the Community
Service Committee will be
back in the kitchen at the October
meeting, after missing the September
meeting due to the Grand
Lodge Convention. Be sure and
enter the basket drawing for an
opportunity to win a set of Commemorative
pins from the Convention.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all
of you that came out and participated at the District 70
Car Show. We were there selling hot dogs, cheeseburgers
and nachos. We were able to make enough money in
the kitchen to give a $100.00 contribution to the Union
Label and Service Trades Council. We want to express
our appreciation to Roger Stamback and David Robertson
- the two Union Label Delegates who cooked the burgers
and hot dogs for us.
On a final note, I would like to once again ask for
volunteers to help on this committee or another committee
of your choice. There will be sign-up sheets for all
the various committees at the October and November
meetings. The sign-up sheets will be available over at the
Local Lodge in between meetings. Please think seriously
about becoming more active in your local lodge functions.
For just a couple of hours a month, you can really
make a difference in your life, your community and your
union.
Call the Local Lodge at 524-
1090 if you have any questions about
any of the committees. Thank you!
It is time to prepare for 2010. Get your “house” in order!
Get your “Union” in order! Hopefully the last couple of months
has showed people the urgency of getting ready for the 2010 negotiations.
We have been “living” the changes that need to be made
in the 2010 Contract, it has not been fun, fair or rewarding. And
we MUST have changes in 2010.
Good advice is: MAKE YOUR UNION STRONGER
**** ORGANIZE ****
BE PREPARED TO STRIKE
TALK to someone who does not belong to our Union. Challenge
yourself, bring in a new member each month!

MACHINISTS MATTERS
PAGE 8 OCTOBER 2008
Welcome To Our New Union Brothers and Sisters
TERRY ATKINSON
BRUCE A. CLARK
JIMMY D. CLARK
CHAUNCEY LITTLEJOHN
TRAVIS METZINGER
WALLACE S. MILLER
TIMOTHY MOLAND
JANINE MOLZAHN
JESSE J. PEREA
EDWARD J.H. PLIKUHN
JEFF A. QUAID
CHAD WAGES
BRIAN ZIMMERMAN
Monthly Union Meetings
2nd Saturday of the Month
Executive Board meets at 8:00 AM
Regular Meeting at 10:00 AM
Greensburg Project
By Jeff Meis
Attention Union Members:
There’s an opportunity for community service to
participate in an outreach program. The ‘Greensburg
Crusade’ program has scheduled a work day for Saturday,
October 25 th . Lunch will be provided for those interested
in joining us on this day.
All volunteers interested are expected to meet at
the Local Lodge 839 at 8:00 am and we will be leaving
the Lodge at 8:30 am.
Carpooling is encouraged.
For more information on this please contact Jeff
Meis @ 316-847-1070.
International Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers
Local Lodge 839
3917 E. MacArthur Rd.
Wichita, Kansas 67210
IAM&AW THE FIGHTING MACHINISTS!
Phone: (316) 524-1090
The Fighting Machinists
www.ll839.org
Local Lodge 839
Get Ready to
Fight & Win
In 2010
President - Kathy Petersen
Vice President -
Recording Secretary - Kevin Jamis
Treasurer - Joni Pierce
Conductor/Sentinel - Dennis Williams
Trustees - Roger Stamback, Stan Chapman, Rickey Nelson
Communicator - Dennis Williams
Educator - Roger Stamback
1st Shift In-Plant Rep. - David Eagle
2nd Shift In-Plant Rep. - Howard “HoJo” Johnson
Editor - Larry Stafford