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Summer 2011 OCMA News |
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Summer 2011 OCMA News |
At the July 27th annual meeting of the OCMA, outgoing OCMA President Joe Cuske, Griffith Wheel Company, presented the “Company of the Year” award to OCMA Treasurer John Burke, representing OSCO Industries, Inc. and the “Supplier of the Year” award to OCMA Golf Committee Chair, David Greek Jr., representing Hill & Griffith Company. The awards, established more than fifteen years ago in 1994, recognize the value to OCMA of contributions made by its member companies and the individuals who give their valuable time to advance not only the OCMA, but also more importantly, the metal casting industry in Ohio. It seems as if OSCO Industries, Inc. President John Burke has been an active leader of OCMA forever. Not quite. John began his participation in OCMA activities back in 1993-1994 when OCMA was deep into negotiating a new beneficial reuse policy with Ohio EPA. At that time, John was recognized for his assistance with the OCMA Position Paper. In 1995, John began what has become an annual trek to Washington, DC to attend the AFS Government Affairs Conference (GAC). He was part of the largest ever delegation from any state ever, and enjoyed the recognition OCMA received for that accomplishment. Interestingly enough, the next year OCMA broke that record. John was elected OCMA Treasurer at the 1995 annual meeting and he has been in one leadership position after another ever since. His son, Ryan Burke, is the present OCMA Vice President for Environmental Affairs and has served in that position since July 2007. A key factor in selecting OSCO Industries, Inc. this year was their unselfish, last minute commitment to host the OCMA foundry tour when the scheduled tour had to be cancelled. Between an outstanding lunch at Portsmouth Brewery and the “Mangrate” that was presented to all foundry tour participants, OSCO Industries, Inc. has set a very high bar for the next foundry tour host.
The supplier of the year award was presented to Hill & Griffith Company primarily for the hard work and leadership provided by President & CEO David Greek Jr. as the OCMA Golf Committee Chair. Dave assumed the Chair in the depths of the Great Recession and it was completely unknown what success OCMA might have that year with the golf outing. Never fear. Under Dave’s leadership the OCMA Golf Committee secured multiple major and hole sponsors and nearly a full 18 holes worth of foursomes. The outing raised more than $16,000 very much needed revenues. In 2010, the golf outing provided more than $21,000 in profits to the OCMA treasury. Dave is once again chairing the Golf Committee this year and we are rooting him on to achieve even greater success. In recognition of these accomplishments and OCMA Trustee Dale Welsh’s service on the OCMA Board, Hill & Griffith Company was awarded this year’s “Supplier of the Year” award. MEETING UPDATE On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, fifty (50) representatives of OCMA member companies attended the OCMA annual meeting in Columbus. Ohio President of the Senate, Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond), was the luncheon speaker. President Niehaus leads the Senate where the Republicans hold a 23 to 10 majority. He has been supportive of business in general and manufacturing specifically during his career in the House and Senate. The key points of his presentation are summarized below. 1. Proposed legislation is merely a starting point in the legislative process. It allows both sides to work towards an agreement that meets the needs of the state. It may not look good in the process as the late Will Rogers said about not wishing to see either sausage or legislation being made, but the process works.
2. Ohio has a history of a great manufacturing state. The Ohio General Assembly’s task is to create a manufacturing friendly environment without over-regulation and high taxes that kill jobs. It is a challenging, difficult balancing act. 3. At the end of last year, the Ohio General Assembly was disparaged
as the “do nothing” legislature with Democrats controlling
the House and the Republicans the Senate. With the change brought about
by the November 2010 elections the legislature became the “do
everything” legislature. 5. President Niehaus reiterated his support for SB 5, the bill that
reformed public sector collective bargaining in Ohio. He does not believe
it is asking too much to have public employees pay 15% of their health
insurance costs when their counterparts in the private sector are paying
that much and more. Additional compensation should be the result of
improved performance, not just more years on the job. Teacher compensation
should be based upon performance, not tenure. He thinks that once the
issues are explained fairly, Ohio voters will support the implementation
of SB 5. 7. Major issues for the legislature now that the budget has been passed include Workers Comp reform, state and local employee pension reform, and redistricting. Ohio will lose two congressional districts due to the ten-year census so the legislature must decide how the present delegation will be affected. 8. The economic potential of the Utica and Marcellus shale in Ohio could be enormous. It is important that Ohio drill for this resource in an environmentally sensitive manner, but it should not seek to curtail its production. This could be an important driver to create jobs in Appalachia and Eastern Ohio directly and throughout the state indirectly.
Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally, introduced himself to the OCMA membership. Director Nally was recruited by Governor Kasich from his position with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). He began his remarks by stating that protecting the health and environment and growing business were not mutually exclusive. The key points of his presentation are provided below: 1. The Director is deeply involved with the development of shale mining in central and southeast Ohio. He is meeting about three times a week on the issue and claims that shale mining is going to have a significant impact on the Ohio economy. The department is working closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PDEP) to learn from the mistakes the PDEP may have made in the shale development in that state. 2. The PDEP initially allowed the shale drilling operations to dispose of their “fracking water” in the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) and the salinity of the water was overwhelming the systems. Director Nally is prohibiting shale-drilling operations in Ohio from using POTW’s and requiring them to use deep injection wells for disposal of the shale water. Ohio has an abundant supply of such wells compared to Pennsylvania – 107 vs. 17. 3. The Director announced that the state government is hosting an Energy Summit on September 22, 2011 with 150 presenters and 800 invitation-only participants. The Summit will address issues concerning Ohio’s energy situation such as whether the state should require its investor-owned utilities to meet production percentages for solar and wind energy by 2025. It is anticipated that the Summit will result in policy recommendations. 4. The Director believes in “common sense” rules and regulations for business. He has implemented a program that will develop general permits versus individual permits. The general permit contains achievable limits, is much shorter, 2-3 pages versus 100-200, and can be approved in 30 days versus 160-180 days. The Director is intent upon reducing the tremendous backlog of permit applications and renewals.
5. The Division of Solid and Infectious Waste (DSIW) is developing a proposed rule for the beneficial reuse of foundry sand. A general permit is likely. The staff is looking at policies of other states in developing their proposal. The Director believes that if the proposed rule is not protective of the environment, it will be challenged by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations. The initial proposal from DSIW would call for 10-15 samples at a cost of approximately $500 per sample. The Director is leaning towards approving a staff recommendation to require the foundry sand to meet Residential Screening Levels (RSLs) protective to 10-6 or one potential cancer case out of one million. The Director was questioned about the large number of samples required to test foundry sand and the extraordinary level of protection proposed. Members of the audience indicated that testing costs would prevent foundries from using foundry sand beneficially which would result in the continued use of landfills. They also questioned why foundry sand would be required to meet such high levels of protection when no other Ohio rules utilize a 10-6 risk factor. The Director became very defensive and incorrectly stated that the 503 program permitting the use of biosolids on agricultural fields was more stringent than the risk level being proposed for foundry sand. For the readers benefit, the risk factor for the 503 program is 10-4 not 10-6.
OCMA General Counsel Mike Frantz, Frantz Ward LLP, warned the OCMA members that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is engaged in activities that would bring about a “sea change” in labor relations if their proposals were approved. With the U.S. House of Representatives now in control by Republicans, the Big Labor legislative agenda is dead so organized labor has shifted their efforts to the regulatory process focusing on the NLRB, the EEOC, and the USDOL. The key points of his presentation are presented below:
2. An example of their action is the proposal to reduce the union election time schedule from about 42 days to 7-10 days. This would make contesting a union election much more difficult for employers. The rule also would change the process by which the bargaining unit is determined and resolve disputes after the election, not before. These proposals are intent upon assisting union organizing efforts. 3. NLRB has revisited the Dana/Metaldyne decision in an effort to facilitate acquisition transactions only when the acquiring company is willing to recognize the incumbent union and the collective bargaining agreement without revisions.
4. The NLRB General Counsel filed a legal complaint against Boeing charging that the company built the new manufacturing facility in South Caroline in violation of the NLRA. The NLRB action threatens to impact an individual company’s ability to move operations if its action affects the union workforce in another location. 5. NLRB is looking into changing the rules that affect non-union employees as well. In their review of Weingarten rights, the NLRB is considering requiring that non-union employees have the right to representation in an investigative meeting that may lead to discipline just as union employees have now. 6. Previously in the case of “salting” where a union slips a union organizer into a company’s workforce prior to an organizing drive, the employer would not face a challenge if they terminated the employee once it was discovered that he/she was a union organizer. Under the new interpretation, the NLRB would protect that employee.
7. U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has hired 250 new wage and hour investigators, an increase in the staff of 33%. A hospital system in St. Louis has had to pay a $1.7 million penalty. A Boston system agreed to pay $2.7 million, and even though a large California system denied any wrongdoing, it agreed to a $7.25 million settlement. Employees may also sue for violations and Plaintiffs’ attorneys are now forming class action suits against employers accusing them of overtime violations. 8. DOL has proposed 135 pages of new rules on “Persuader Activity” designed to significantly restrict what an employer’s consultant and legal counsel can do without filing reports with the DOL. As Mike reads the proposed regulations, they allow only legal advice to be given in the course of a campaign. He also believes that the proposed rules interfere with the lawyer-client relationship. 9. It is important that companies recognize that the Obama administration is committed to an agenda that is pro-employee and anti-business. The proposed changes for “quickie” elections and the “muzzling of lawyers” under the persuader proposed rules are designed to and will result in a significant increase in organization and unionization. Review your policy handbooks to assure they are legally compliant—Now! 10. Develop a plan for how your company will address an organizing drive in a shortened time frame. Identify the critical team members in our company; craft your message; think about classifications and supervisors; educate and train your supervisors on what they can and cannot do. Lastly, write your Congressman or Congresswoman and urge them to restore balance to the labor relations structure.
Vice President of the OCMA Environmental Affairs Committee, Ryan Burke, OSCO Industries, Inc., presented the environmental report. Key issues are outlined below: USEPA Decision on Thermal Sand Reclamation Units As reported in the Spring OCMA News, in March 2011, USEPA published in the Federal Register a number of final rules which suggested that thermal sand reclamation (TSR) units operating in foundries may be subject to a new commercial and industrial solid waste (CISWI) rule which would have made operation of these units uneconomical. AFS organized a broad coalition within our industry including OCMA, OCMA members General Motors Powertrain, Haley & Aldrich, and Sage Environmental to convince USEPA to alter their interpretation of the rule. The AFS Washington office coordinated a letter writing campaign to Senators in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. OCMA Executive Director Russ Murray authored such a letter to Senator Sherrod Brown in which he stated: “It makes no sense for these thermal sand reclaimers to be classified as commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators when they are merely burning off resin and/or clay from the sand to allow for its reuse within the foundry process.” These Senators wrote a letter to USEPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asking her to take another look at this issue. The coalition’s efforts were rewarded in late July when USEPA Director of Sector Policies and Programs Division Peter Tsirigotis sent a letter concluding, “In summary, we conclude that TSR units used to recycle foundry sand are not subject to the standards of the 2000 or 2011 CISWI rules.” This is a victory for our side, but isn’t it ridiculous that we even had to fight this battle? Start-up, Shutdown, and Malfunction Rule As reported previously, responding to a petition from the Sierra Club,
the court held that the Start-Up, Shutdown, and Malfunction (SSM) that
had exempted sources from applicable emission standards during (SSM)
must be vacated. USEPA is examining this issue and AFS and OCMA are
watching developments closely however, there have been no significant
developments. See summary of meeting update above. Energy Update
Larry Boyd, EIO, presented the energy update. Larry shared slides from the AFS Workshop on Energy Efficiency in the Foundry workshop presented by AFS June 28-29, 2011. Copies of the slides are available from the OCMA office by email. Join Us This Fall The next OCMA meeting will be held on October 26th, please mark your calendar. Ohio Rep. Terry Johnson (R-Portsmouth) will address the scourge of pharmaceutical drug addiction and “pill mills” and what Ohio is doing to eliminate this problem. Thomas Wagoner, President & CEO, Accelerated Benefits will provide an update on Obamacare. Finally Rebecca Bennett, Frantz Ward LLP, will discuss the pitfalls of new social media in the workplace. For more information contact Russ Murray at 614-876-5100. New Officers and Trustees of the OCMA Board elected at the Annual Meeting are as follows: Officers * President Angela Dine Molaskey, St. Marys Foundry, Inc.
Board of Trustees - Terms to expire in 2011 * Ross Bushman, Cast-Fab Technologies, Inc.
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