The General Conference shall direct the General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries to give priority in programming and funding to the implementation of the actions called for in the resolution entitled "The Right of Workers" passed at the 1988 General Conference (Book of Resolutions, pages 369-370).
The General Conference shall direct the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Church and Society to appoint a quadrennium coordinating task force to implement the call of the 1988 "Right of Workers" resolution and organize the Quadrennium of the Worker and subsequent ministries. This task force will be composed of both clergy and laity. The General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries will each appoint one-third of the task force. Those appointed will then nominate the final one-third of the task force to represent the Church at-large. All appointees will be persons who are informed about the issues and/or presently engaged in ministry to working people, the unemployed, and the underemployed. The task force will be gender, race, and class inclusive.
The General Conference shall direct the General Council on Ministries and the General Council on Finance and Administration to provide from General Conference funds the amount of $750,000 for the task force to conduct its work during the quadrennium. The General Conference shall also direct the General Council on Ministries to coordinate the General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries in modifying priorities so that funding and staff time is available from within their existing budgets.
The quadrennium task force will coordinate the research of old Methodist hymns that celebrate working people and call for economic justice. It will coordinate the collection and distribution of resources, including new hymns, prayers, liturgies, lectionary reflections, sermon material, and Sunday school curricula. The quadrennium task force will assemble special materials to assist in the recognition of Labor Day, Workers' Memorial Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, and other celebrations of working people. The General Conference shall direct other general boards and commissions and seminaries to assist this effort. The task force will explore and recommend denominational forums in which we can hear the concerns of working people, the unemployed, and the underemployed.
The General Conference shall direct each annual conference, district, and local congregation to explore and develop their own ministries to working people, the unemployed and underemployed. The General Board of Global Ministries and General Board of Church and Society will assist these local efforts to
*Identify working people, the unemployed, and the underemployed who worship in our local congregations and, in the best tradition of Wesleyan inclusiveness, design settings in which to hear their stories, survey their needs, affirm their diverse gifts, and nurture their leadership skills;
*Encourage regular dialogue with local organized labor communities and reach out to unorganized workers;
*Advocate for the economic, social, political, and spiritual interests of working people, the unemployed, and the underemployed within annual conferences, districts, and local congregations;
*Be in special community with local workers and management during grievances, organizing efforts, contract negotiations, strikes, lockouts, or plant closings; and
*Participate in ecumenical, interfaith, and other community-centered efforts to serve working people, the unemployed, and the underemployed.
Our denomination, its annual conferences, districts, and local congregations, its boards, commissions, agencies, hospitals, nursing homes, seminaries, and other higher education institutions employ many workers. We commit ourselves to be model employers. To this end, we will
*Listen to the concerns of our employees and respond to their suggestions and grievances;
*Encourage, not impede, their efforts to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining; and
*Develop and distribute written guidelines based on the Social Principles for use within the denomination, its annual conferences, districts, local congregations, agencies, and affiliated institutions which affirm the right of workers to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining.
The General Conference recognizes that these ministries alone will not solve the workplace crisis. Each United Methodist must make a personal commitment to join the struggle. We worship the Carpenter and admire the wisdom of John Wesley. Both served working people. United Methodists are well positioned to serve working people. We are workers, bosses, farmers, shoppers, preachers, educators, missionaries, administrators, corporate officers, landlords, doctors, bankers, stockholders, and consumers. Embracing the spirit and implementing the call of the Quadrennium of the Worker, United Methodists can help working people realize their full potential and find justice, peace, and wholeness within their workplaces. By our actions, we seek to proclaim the sacredness of the workplace and the dignity of its workers.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 22709-GJ-NonDis-O$
1996 United Methodist General Conference