|
FALL 2005 OCMA News |
President John Vaught called the business meeting to order at 1:00 P.M.
II. SPEAKERS
![]() |
| A beaming Mike Frantz, Frantz Ward LLP, accepts his OCMA Speakers Award from OCMA President John Vaught, Tri-Cast, Ltd. |
More than fifty (50) OCMA members attended the OCMA HR Day meeting on October
18, 2005, to hear several presentations pertaining to issues selected by
the OCMA HR Committee. OCMA Counsel Mike Frantz, Frantz Ward LLP, was the luncheon
speaker. Mike is asked each year to provide a legal update on judicial decisions
that may affect Ohio metal casters and their suppliers. This year the members
received in their information packets a hefty document entitled “Selected
Labor Board and Federal Court Developments” and Mike suggested that
the members review those cases at their leisure. He focused his remarks instead
on the AFL-CIO break-up, the Delphi bankruptcy, and the potential impact
of
the
new U. S. Supreme Court nominations. The key points of his presentation are
outlined below:
| 1. | The most significant issue of the AFL-CIO break-up is that it will shape labor relations for years to come. Although AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, formerly with the SEIU, promised aggressive organizing when campaigning for the post, however, he failed to deliver organizing victories and instead, focused more on labor’s political clout. Leadership of unions concerned that organizing activity was inadequate asked Sweeney to resign. When he refused, they left the AFL-CIO to form the Change to Win Coalition (CTW). |
| 2. | Unions leaving the AFL-CIO include the SEIU, led by Andy Stern, titular head of the new coalition, Teamsters, UFCW, and Unite Here, all service oriented unions. The CTW convention platform touted the need to organize companies that are not able to relocate offshore such as health care facilities, social service agencies and church affiliated organizations such as the Catholic Charities USA. Mike believes that Ohio will be an organizing “battleground” state with the CTW targeting health care facilities. |
| 3. | The impact of the split upon the AFL-CIO will be profound. More than 5 million members were removed from the federation and more than $10 million removed from its treasury. Under these circumstances, Big Labor will not have the clout in the political arena that it once had. The next presidential election should be a key indicator of Big Labor’s political influence. |
| 4. | Regarding the Delphi situation, Mike indicated that the bankruptcy was the only way that Delphi could successfully address its legacy costs and reduce wages and fringe benefits. Hourly wages at Delphi ranged from $18-20 per hour and with fringe benefits the hourly cost was more than $60 per hour. With these costs Delphi was no longer competitive especially with its biggest customer, General Motors. Moreover, GM made a calculated decision not to help Delphi avoid bankruptcy because GM’s negotiating position with the UAW was enhanced once Delphi declared bankruptcy. |
| 5. | GM’s strategy appeared to pay off a week later when it announced the agreement with the UAW to reduce its health care costs. GM expects to save $3 billion from its current employees and more than $15 billion from its retirees. |
| 6. | Mike believes the GM-UAW agreement will positively affect all collective bargaining negotiations. The GM-UAW agreement opens the door for bargaining on all issues. |
| 7. | The U.S. Supreme Court will undergo a “sea change” with the naming of Chief Justice John Roberts and one additional Bush nominee. Chief Justice Roberts is likely to demonstrate a judicial temperament similar to former Chief Justice Rehnquist and present Justice Scalia. With the addition of a second justice more conservative than Justice O’Connor, the Court will display a more “strict constructionist” bent. There are 39 oral arguments before the Court this year, a significant workload, so Chief Justice Roberts will have an immediate impact. |
| 8. | Of the cases before the Court, only five pertain to labor issues and only one affects the foundry industry. FLSA v. Alvarez addresses the safety issue nicknamed “donning & doffing”. Legal issue is when does the work day begin, when the employee puts on his/her safety equipment or when they are actually at their workplace. Presently workers are not paid for the time it takes to travel from the equipment room where they “don” their safety equipment. A California court found that this time should be compensable. Other courts say it should not be. The Supreme Court will determine. If this time is compensable, it could cost business including foundries, millions of dollars. |
| 9. | Regarding collective bargaining, health care remains the biggest issue. Cost of providing health care has increased from $4000/employee in 2000 to $8000/employee in 2005. He also recommended that OCMA members review the activities of the Third Party Administrator (TPA) representing them for BWC cases. The compromise decision on the practice of law in BWC hearings minimized the TPA’s ability to question witnesses etc. It is important to determine whether you and your TPA are on the same page. |
![]() |
![]() |
| OCMA Treasurer John Burke, OSCO Industries, Inc. presents a favorable financial report highlighting the success of the 2nd Annual OCMA Golf Outing in August. | Everybody is happy as John Sinclair, Mercer Human Relations Consulting, accepts his OCMA Speakers Award from OCMA President John Vaught. |
Mike’s labor relations update is available from the OCMA office.
Mike Sinclair, Principal, Mercer Human Relations Consulting, presented “Health and Productivity: Strategies for Managing Costs”. Key points of his presentation are presented below:
| 1. | John set the stage by presenting the following facts:
|
||||||||||||
| 2. | Employers are beginning to investigate ways to change
both the work environment and employee behavior. An effective health and
productivity management strategy includes:
|
||||||||||||
| 3. | Employers today are increasingly incorporating in their health care plan design more communications to employees of the importance of taking care of themselves and providing incentives to lead a healthier lifestyle. Specifically employers are developing programs to discourage employees from smoking, to excercise regularly, and to encourage employees to keep their weight at healthy levels. |
||||||||||||
| 4. | Additionally, employers are attempting to manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, and cancer. Such programs often include a nurse advice phone line, a health website, and targeted behavior modification. The programs also include incentives and communications with affected employees to encourage them to follow their treatment plans. While the preponderance of large companies are engaged in this activity, smaller companies are now being assisted to copy these programs. | ||||||||||||
| 5. | The incentive programs take a variety of forms. Companies have had considerable success encouraging participation in health improvement programs by offering something as simple as a $25 gift-spending card. In addition, some companies offer a lower co-pay to those employees who participate in a health risk assessment program. Before implementing an incentive program, employers must recognize that once implemented, these programs are very difficult to eliminate. | ||||||||||||
| 6. | Regarding consumer driven healthcare such as the use of a health savings account (HSA) the jury is still out. We need better data and information about whether better outcomes can be achieved. It would be very helpful if the healthcare “customer” could comparison shop for doctors and hospitals, but these institutions do not want to be measured so it is nearly impossible to develop helpful data. Without this measurement capability, it is extremely difficult to determine quality of care. | ||||||||||||
| 7. | Summarizing, John suggested a simple plan of action:
|
Mr. Sinclair’s PowerPoint presentation is available from the OCMA office. Just call or e-mail.
Courtney Daugherty, General Motors – Powertrain-Defiance, provided a crisis communication primer: “Crisis Communications: Planning to Attack the Crisis Before it Attacks You”. The key points of her presentation are presented below:
| 1. | There are five general categories of crisis:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | Seven phases of a crisis that an organization usually
goes through:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | Benefits of a communications plan;
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. | How to prepare a crisis communications plan:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. | How to communicate during a crisis:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. | Do your level best to establish credibility in your earliest
communications:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. | Factors of special importance in a crisis:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8. | 1.The media are very predictable, they will ask questions
their audience would ask such as:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9. | Making preparedness a habit:
Ms. Daugherty’s PowerPoint presentation is available from the OCMA office. Just call or e-mail.
Joe Cuske, Works Manager, Griffin Wheel Company, presented a heart-felt description of his personal experience with a fatal accident at the plant. Joe, who has been with Griffin Wheel Company for twenty-six years explained that dealing with the media is important, but taking care of the needs of the affected family and communicating with the employees is of utmost important in this type of a crisis. Key points of his presentation are outlined below:
Vice President of the OCMA Environmental Affairs, Dennis Baker, Flowserve Corporation, presented the environmental report. The PowerPoint environmental report is available from the OCMA office just call or e-mail. Key issues are outlined below: Generally Available Control Technology
Beneficial Reuse
Revisiting the Ohio Air Pollution Control Act
Join Us This Winter
EMTEC Report Nick Cannel, EMTEC, provided the report. Highlights are outlined below:
Nick helped two foundries purchase solidification modeling software. EMTEC will subsidize the purchase of modeling software by 10% up to $2000. Nick reminded OCMA members that 95% of his time is spent actively assisting foundries with unique problems that they may not have the time and/or resources to address. He gave as an example a recent project where he successfully helped a foundry with a layout design problem. He is working with another company on product development. Similarly, Nick is helping a foundry explore the possibility of recycling used solvents rather than disposing of them. Ohio Technology Showcase
Along with the Ohio Department of Development & U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Industries of Ohio (EIO) sponsored an Ohio Technology Showcase from September 27- 29. The showcase was held in Cleveland and the Ford Motor Company’s Cleveland Casting Plant was a featured tour. The Ohio Technology Showcase featured technical sessions, plenary addresses by business and government leaders, and special forums on selected topics. The workshops featuring two OCMA member foundries, Ford Motor Company’s Cleveland Casting Plant and The Sawbrook Steel Casting Company, Cincinnati that agreed to have energy audits performed at their facilities. The audits resulted in recommended changes that could save significant energy costs. Two recommendations were of special note. The replacement of V-belts on machinery with notched or cogged belts resulted in significant energy savings without excessive costs. Additionally, the replacement of 400-watt lamps with 360 Halide lamps resulted in brighter lighting and lower electricity usage. Both of these items can be changed over time, as replacements are necessary. Just thought you would like to know.
On October 4, 2005, the OCMA HR Committee sponsored a Safety & Ergonomics Seminar presented by former OCMA VP for Environmental Affairs, Steve Wilson, Flowserve Corporation and Josh Kerst, Humantech. Twenty-one members and non-members were very pleased that they took the time to attend the seminar. Evaluations of the content and presentation skills of Steve and Josh were outstanding. Our thanks again to Ashland Casting Solutions for providing the training room and for picking up the cost of lunch. With these valuable contributions, the seminar was both an educational and financial success. Golf, Golf, and more Golf Last year’s Inaugural OCMA Golf Outing was such a monumental success that very few individuals believed that the 2nd Annual outing could top it. But top it we did with 100 golfers attending the outing held on Monday, August 29, 2005, at the Cumberland Trails Golf Club, the site of last year’s success. Participants enjoyed the golf, camaraderie, food & refreshments, and OCMA earned an addition to its bottom line of nearly $17,000. Led once again by OCMA Golf Committee Chairman Bud Tibbits, Hill & Griffith Company and the OCMA Golf Committee, OCMA recruited nine (9) major sponsors, thirty-two (32) hole sponsors, and 100 golfers! With Fairmount Minerals Ltd. once again providing a grand prize of a foursome at the award winning Sand Ridge Golf Club the task of recruiting golf enthusiasts was pretty easy. The winning team from Hill & Griffith Company was comprised of Bud Tibbits, Dave Greek Jr., Tom Wedemeyer, and Ryan Canfield. The word is Bud, Dave, and Ryan pretty much carried Tom the whole day. They certainly deserved to win carding three (3) eagles and a whole bunch of birdies. Bud pronounced that it was great to finally win a golf outing that truly meant something. He’s right; the privilege to play Sand Ridge Golf Club and stay overnight at the luxury cabins is a prize well worth winning. The success of the outing this year was beyond our expectations and we can hardly wait until next year. Dan Salak, Foseco Metallurgical Inc. accepted the challenge to follow in Bud Tibbits’ footsteps as Golf Committee Chairman and we are confident that next year will be even better. OCMA Golf Outing Committee Members Bud Tibbits, Chairman, Hill & Griffith Company OCMA Golf Outing Major Sponsors Ashland Casting Solutions OCMA Golf Outing Hole Sponsors
Volunteers John Vaught, OCMA President, Tri-Cast Ltd.
The OCMA PAC golf outings raised nearly $700 in 2005. Although we only had one foursome participate in the Northeast OCMA PAC golf outing held on Friday, September 16th at Shaker Heights Country Club, those who did participate enjoyed a real treat. The Shaker Heights CC is an old, Don Ross design, challenging and rewarding. The turnout at the Southern Ohio OCMA PAC outing on Thursday, August 4, 2005 had seven (7) golfers at the outstanding Royal Oak Country Club. It seems the description of the course from last year’s OCMA News write-up may have influenced some reticent players this year. Unlike last year, we had beautiful weather both days and participants had a great time while supporting the OCMA PAC.
“The future of the metal casting industry in America lies with increasing the demand for American castings. Foremost in this battle will be new casting designs. The future should not be battling with the Chinese and Indians for castings that have been made the same way for decades.” With that declaration, OCMA Executive Director Russ Murray challenged the participants at the AFS Midwest Regional Conference to engage in an effort to develop, build, and operate a Casting Design Center (CDC). The CDC’s purpose would be to assist small and large metal casters to design castings to replace weldments, machined billets, machined welded fabrications, assemblies, and stampings. The CDC would build upon the castings featured in the AFS Annual Casting of the Year competition. The focus of the CDC would be to facilitate the replication of these new design breakthroughs on a daily basis, not just once a year. Mr. Murray added that the CDC would become a magnet for new design students who presently do not have the opportunity to understand the capabilities of sophisticated casting design. He expressed one necessary caveat; since Ohio is the largest foundry state, the design center should be located in Ohio! Photos courtesy of Nick Cannell, EMTEC. |
|
© Copyright 2000 |