wfn.org | United Methodist advocacy agency looks at boycotts

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

March 28, 2001      News media contact: Joretta Purdue ·(202)
546-8722·Washington    10-71B{149}

NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS stories #150 and #151. A
head-and-shoulders photograph of Jim Winkler is available.

ARLINGTON, Va. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church's social action agency
has decided to join two boycotts, one against Philip Morris Companies and
the other against NORPAC food products. 

Governing members of the Washington-based United Methodist Board of Church
and Society approved the decision at their semi-annual meeting, March 22-24.
The meeting was followed by a legislative briefing March 24-26, also
sponsored by the board.

The board agreed to join a boycott against Kraft products initiated by
INFACT, a nonprofit organization working to stop life-threatening abuses by
transnational corporations. The boycott is directed at Philip Morris
Companies Inc., the parent company of Kraft Foods. INFACT cites increased
tobacco marketing to children and young people as a reason for the boycott.
The board is concerned about Philip Morris' international expansion in this
area.

Board members also concurred with the Oregon-Idaho Annual (regional)
Conference in joining the boycott of NORPAC frozen and canned products,
including the Flav-R-Pac/Westpac brand. The Oregon-Idaho Conference has
conducted a three-year study of the labor issues involved, and the board
accepted the conference recommendation.

In addition to joining the boycotts, the board tried to avert a third
boycott by offering a mediator in a dispute between Mt. Olive Pickle Co. in
North Carolina and FLOC, a labor union working with field laborers. The
board's Work Area on Peace with Justice heard presentations and questioned
company and FLOC representatives, then recommended offering a mediator to
try to bring reconciliation. The board has approved a boycott if Mt. Olive
Pickle impedes the discussion; if the union is an impediment, no boycott
will be declared. Board observers will report on progress at the October
meeting.

The board also voted to end its table grape boycott following last
November's declaration by United Farm Workers that it was halting its
leadership of the campaign because of contracts and other achievements.

In all the actions regarding boycotts, the board acted on its own. Only
General Conference, the denomination's highest legislative assembly, can
speak for the whole church.

Board members spent a major chunk of their meeting time discussing
guidelines for issuing public statements, action alerts and amicus briefs.

The members approved a set of guidelines that must be followed in
determining to join or originate an amicus - or friend of the court - brief.
The guidelines include staff preparation of a statement citing theological
perspective and policy connections, review by legal counsel and approval by
the executive committee of the board, or in some cases, the full board.

Proposed guidelines for press statements, sign-on letters and action alerts
drew discussion by the board members, particularly around the issue of who
speaks for the board between meetings and whether board approval should be
required for statements and the like in advance of release. The board
approved a provision for sending a draft of such items to members for
information only, and the guidelines were adopted. 

Jim Winkler, a United Methodist layman and longtime board employee, was
installed as general secretary of the staff on March 22 at Arlington Forest
United Methodist Church. Winkler began his duties Nov. 1. 

Board members who participated in installation were assisted by the church
pastor, Edward P. Winkler, Jim's uncle. The general secretary's brother,
Christopher Winkler, pastor of Community United Methodist Church in
Winfield, Ill., gave the opening prayer; and his father, Eugene H. Winkler,
senior minister at First United Methodist Church/Chicago Temple, preached
the sermon on "The Promise of a New Day."

In other business, the board:
·	Agreed to enter into a covenant relationship with the Shared Mission
Focus on Young People.
·	Named Bishop William Hutchinson to attend a conference of the
Religious Alliance Against Pornography.
·	Determined that the executive committee as well as the environmental
justice work area members will review and approve the names of individuals
being appointed to a bioethics taskforce being created by the board.
·	Decided to seek consultative status, which it has with the United
Nations Economic Social council, with three other U.N. agencies - UNICEF for
children's issues, the International Labor Organization for labor issues,
and UNESCO for education, science and cultural issues.

The board approved four grants to juvenile offender rehabilitation projects
from the Human Relations Day Offering funds. The grants were $20,000 for the
Oklahoma Annual Conference Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries work with
juvenile offenders; $20,000 for Salem United Methodist Church in
collaboration with Pleasantville (N.J.) Public Schools; $20,000 for
Methodist Action Program of Wilmington, Del.; and $11,000 for Partners
Mentorship Program in San Diego.

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United Methodist News Service
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