Today I'm going to illustrate how you can take two resolutions that identify legitimate problems but don't go all the way in finding how the church can be part of the solution and combine them with one totally awesome resolution to maybe come up with something incredible. Let's get scoring.
First up, Condemn the Practice of Wage Theft. This resolution commits the diocese to saying that denying laborers the wages and benefits they are due is a bad thing, and then "encourages" and "urges" parishes to educate themselves and partner with government agencies, etc. Real problem, dissatisfying solution.
Second, Deter Blacklisting of Workers. This is an obscure enough problem that I wasn't aware of it until just recently, and it's complicated enough that it will take a little more time to explain than wage theft. The idea goes like this. Occupancy is up and down in hotels, so rather than keep staff on its payrolls when demand for their services is so variable, hotels keep some base staff but then hire the rest through temporary agencies. So far, so good - totally legit business practice. But then, some hotels and temp agencies agree that the temporary employees can never be employees of the hotel (this is the blacklist), and remain long-term employees of the temp agency, even if they work at the same hotel for years. The impact on the worker is that they have no job security (because they're temps), no benefits (because they're temps), and no ability to improve their working conditions, through, say, collective bargaining, because they're not employees of the hotel they work for.
This one is stronger than the Wage Theft resolution in that it does call for more decisive action in the form of the church using its purchasing power (chiefly in the form of the Bishop's travel budget and the negotiation of room blocks for diocesan convention) to avoid institutions that participate in the practice.
One thing it lacks, though, is that phrase I griped about earlier, "stand in solidarity with". How might we actually do that with the many people in central and southern Indiana who have been victims of wage theft or blacklisting? These resolutions just encourage us to talk to their bosses and regulators.
That's why I'm really excited about the Establish Diocesan Mission Enterprise Zones resolution. One of the really exciting things that came out of the budget passed at the recent General Convention was the establishment of matching grants for Mission Enterprise Zones, which are meant to engage in innovative ministry with under-represented groups in the Episcopal Church, and which may use non-traditional forms of liturgy and leadership structures. The problem with this kind of ministry is that it tends not to be self-funding, certainly not at the start and maybe not for a long time. The matching grant helps address that problem. Think of it as venture capital funding for mission.
So let's score, and come back to how these resolutions might work together:
Ok, not so hot, right? But if you've gotten through this far in the Blogging the Resolutions series with me, you might be coming to the conclusion that resolutions to diocesan convention are a pretty crude way of doing active mission. Where the diocese can be a real plus is as a channel to facilitate good ideas and to efficiently seek funding from the national church (the MEZ grants can only be sought by a diocese, not a smaller unit). We have a lot of parishes in this diocese looking to reinvent themselves due to economic necessity (the rest should probably be thinking about reinvention as a spiritual necessity). There are two churches in downtown Indianapolis that are natural geographic partners with blacklisted hotel workers. There are many more churches near a Wal Mart, the highest profile (but by no means the only) company with a history of wage theft. My own church is trying to discern a clearer calling to mission.
The wage theft and blacklisting resolutions give us some guidance about where underserved populations might be. Obviously there are others we can address. The MEZ resolution gives a prospect of funding to support creative mission in this diocese. So it's incumbent on us to come up with ideas that the Diocese and the national church can't say no to. My scores notwithstanding, delegates should vote to pass these resolutions.
First up, Condemn the Practice of Wage Theft. This resolution commits the diocese to saying that denying laborers the wages and benefits they are due is a bad thing, and then "encourages" and "urges" parishes to educate themselves and partner with government agencies, etc. Real problem, dissatisfying solution.
Second, Deter Blacklisting of Workers. This is an obscure enough problem that I wasn't aware of it until just recently, and it's complicated enough that it will take a little more time to explain than wage theft. The idea goes like this. Occupancy is up and down in hotels, so rather than keep staff on its payrolls when demand for their services is so variable, hotels keep some base staff but then hire the rest through temporary agencies. So far, so good - totally legit business practice. But then, some hotels and temp agencies agree that the temporary employees can never be employees of the hotel (this is the blacklist), and remain long-term employees of the temp agency, even if they work at the same hotel for years. The impact on the worker is that they have no job security (because they're temps), no benefits (because they're temps), and no ability to improve their working conditions, through, say, collective bargaining, because they're not employees of the hotel they work for.
This one is stronger than the Wage Theft resolution in that it does call for more decisive action in the form of the church using its purchasing power (chiefly in the form of the Bishop's travel budget and the negotiation of room blocks for diocesan convention) to avoid institutions that participate in the practice.
One thing it lacks, though, is that phrase I griped about earlier, "stand in solidarity with". How might we actually do that with the many people in central and southern Indiana who have been victims of wage theft or blacklisting? These resolutions just encourage us to talk to their bosses and regulators.
That's why I'm really excited about the Establish Diocesan Mission Enterprise Zones resolution. One of the really exciting things that came out of the budget passed at the recent General Convention was the establishment of matching grants for Mission Enterprise Zones, which are meant to engage in innovative ministry with under-represented groups in the Episcopal Church, and which may use non-traditional forms of liturgy and leadership structures. The problem with this kind of ministry is that it tends not to be self-funding, certainly not at the start and maybe not for a long time. The matching grant helps address that problem. Think of it as venture capital funding for mission.
So let's score, and come back to how these resolutions might work together:
|
Condemn Wage
Theft
|
Condemn
Blacklisting
|
Mission
Enterprise Zones
| |
|
Pass
unanimously?
|
-1
|
-1
|
-1
|
|
Commit the
church to doing something?
|
-3
|
+1
|
+1
|
|
Potentially
commit the author to doing something?
|
-1
|
-1
|
-1
|
|
Escape
hatch?
|
-1
|
+1
|
-1
|
|
Budget?
|
+1
|
+1
|
+1
|
|
Total
|
-5
|
+1
|
-1
|
Ok, not so hot, right? But if you've gotten through this far in the Blogging the Resolutions series with me, you might be coming to the conclusion that resolutions to diocesan convention are a pretty crude way of doing active mission. Where the diocese can be a real plus is as a channel to facilitate good ideas and to efficiently seek funding from the national church (the MEZ grants can only be sought by a diocese, not a smaller unit). We have a lot of parishes in this diocese looking to reinvent themselves due to economic necessity (the rest should probably be thinking about reinvention as a spiritual necessity). There are two churches in downtown Indianapolis that are natural geographic partners with blacklisted hotel workers. There are many more churches near a Wal Mart, the highest profile (but by no means the only) company with a history of wage theft. My own church is trying to discern a clearer calling to mission.
The wage theft and blacklisting resolutions give us some guidance about where underserved populations might be. Obviously there are others we can address. The MEZ resolution gives a prospect of funding to support creative mission in this diocese. So it's incumbent on us to come up with ideas that the Diocese and the national church can't say no to. My scores notwithstanding, delegates should vote to pass these resolutions.
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