UMA MEMBER COMPANIES IN THE NEWS:
ATK Receives $80 Million Order for MK90 Propellant Grains
ATK (NYSE: ATK) has received an $80 million order from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products for production of the MK90 propellant grain. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to continue our longstanding tradition of production excellence on the MK90 propellant grain,” said Kent Holiday, ATK Energetic Systems vice president and general manager. “We have made this propellant grain, or its predecessor design, for many years, and look forward to continuing to meet the needs of our customer and the ultimate end-user – the warfighter, with an affordable and reliable product.
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ATK (NYSE: ATK) has received an $80 million order from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products for production of the MK90 propellant grain. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to continue our longstanding tradition of production excellence on the MK90 propellant grain,” said Kent Holiday, ATK Energetic Systems vice president and general manager. “We have made this propellant grain, or its predecessor design, for many years, and look forward to continuing to meet the needs of our customer and the ultimate end-user – the warfighter, with an affordable and reliable product.
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS CALLS FOR CHANGE ON DOHA TALKS
ShopFloor BlogNAM’s Shopfloor blog reported that yesterday morning, the National Association of Manufacturers joined with other major business groups to issue a joint statement on the Doha Round, the recently stalled multilateral trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. The joint statement said, in part: "We deeply regret that the WTO Doha Development Agenda trade round has not yet been able to achieve its intended objective of promoting world economic growth by expanding trade." The statement reaffirms the support of "US manufacturing, services, and agriculture communities" for the round's success, but adds that "an agreement will not be possible unless all major economies make meaningful contributions." The statement concludes, "We encourage the United States and all WTO Members to devote their energy to finding a productive, trade-expanding direction for the Doha Round and the multilateral trading system. We remain ready to contribute our ideas to such an effort."
NAM ShopFloor Blog - May 2, 2011
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing this morning, with the sector continuing to expand rapidly, despite a slight decrease. The PMI fell from 61.2 in March to 60.4 in April, beating expectations. As the chart below shows, the sector has improved substantially since bottoming out in late 2008. In addition, a PMI over 42.5 indicates expansion in the sector, and the PMI for manufacturing has now exceeded that figure for 21 consecutive months.
With that said, manufacturing production has cooled somewhat in the past couple months, mainly due to rising material costs, supply chain disruptions, and higher energy prices. The rate of growth of production, new orders, and employment fell slightly, with inventories up. The gap between new orders and inventories – which are a proxy for future production – narrowed, but still indicates positive growth in the months ahead.
In addition, exports remain a source of strength for manufacturing. New export orders rose from 56 to 62 in April, the 22nd consecutive month of growth.
NAM ShopFloor Blog - Carter Wood - May 2, 2011
Peter List has a good summary at LaborUnionReport.com of the National Labor Relations Board’s decisions that demonstrate a clear bias toward organized labor and against employers. The most recent example — other than the egregious complaint against Boeing — is an decision that could give unions a free “do over” in certification elections if they can errors in management’s employee handbook.
From “Obama’s NLRB Strikes Again! Employees’ Vote to Decertify Voided Over Employer Handbook”
[In] a recent case that has significant ramifications on employers and employees who wish to remain (or become) union-free, the Obama NLRB gave unsuccessful unions a way in which to use employers’ handbooks to nullify employee votes. Now, if employees reject unionization (or decertify a union), unions can get a “do over” simply based on the most frivolous of complaints about an employer’s handbook.
In the decision, published on March 28th, Obama’s NLRB issued ruled on a decertification election where unionized employees voted 47-46 to kick an unwanted union out of their workplace. The election took place nearly five years ago—in 2006. (continue reading…)
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