Quick Manufacturing News
The most
recent AFP Corporate Cash Indicators, a quarterly look at recent and
anticipated changes in corporate balances, showed quarter-to-quarter growth at
40% of reporting organizations between year-end 2011 and the first quarter of
2012. In contrast, 27% of companies indicated that they lowered cash balances
during the quarter.
U.S. GROWTH
SLOWS IN FIRST QUARTER
Today in Manufacturing
Today in Manufacturing
Commerce Department said the economy grew at an annual rate
of 2.2 percent in the January-March quarter, compared with a 3 percent gain in
the final quarter of 2011 … continue
Now that five years have passed, an economist has taken a
look at the effects of the ERISA mandate, and it is a lesson in unintended
consequences … continue
GALLUP: AMERICANS DIVIDED OVER PRODUCING
ENERGY VS. PROTECTING ENVIRONMENT
Marking a shift from the early 2000s, Americans are now
nearly evenly divided over whether environmental protection or energy
production should be given priority, according to a Gallup poll released March
23.
A slightly higher percentage of respondents, 47% to 44%,
said U.S. development of oil, gas and coal should be given priority over
protecting the environment, Gallup reported. The results were based on the
organization's annual environment poll, which was conducted March 8-11.
In 2011, fully 50% of respondents said U.S. energy
development should be given priority, versus 41% favoring environmental
protection, Gallup noted. The results from this year and last year represent a
shift from those in a 2002 Gallup poll, when 52% of Americans favored
protecting the environment while 36% gave priority to energy development.
Among Democrats, 56% in the March 2012 poll gave priority to
environmental protection, with 34% favoring energy production. That number
shifted dramatically among Republicans, with only 24% giving priority to
protecting the environment and 68% favoring energy production. Among
independents, 49% gave priority to environmental protection and 41% to energy
production.
When presented with the choice between development of
alternative energy such as wind and solar power and production of more oil, gas
and coal, the March 2012 survey found that 59% of Americans preferred
alternative energy, with 34% preferring an emphasis on production of more oil,
gas and coal. More than two-thirds of Democrats, 68%, said the U.S. should
follow the alternative energy approach, with 24% preferring oil, gas and coal.
Only 34% of Republicans preferred the alternative energy approach, while 59%
voiced a preference for producing more oil, gas and coal. Independents were
more closely aligned with Democrats on this question, with 67% preferring
alternative energy and 27% preferring oil, gas and coal.
On the topic of conservation, a majority of respondents in
the current Gallup poll, 51%, said that the U.S. should emphasize more
conservation of existing energy supplies by consumers, while 40% said that
production of more oil, gas and coal supplies should be emphasized.
The new Gallup poll follows on the heels of a survey
conducted March 7-11 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press,
which found
a drop in public support for alternative energy. However, Pew noted that while
the margin has narrowed in the past year, more Americans still support
developing alternative energy sources than support expanding the exploration
and production of oil, coal and natural gas.
In March 2012, 52% of respondents favored developing
alternative energy sources, compared with 39% favoring expanding exploration
and production of oil, coal and natural gas, Pew reported. In March 2011, 63%
supported alternative sources, compared with 29% supporting expanded
exploration and development of oil, coal and gas.
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NAM CAPITAL BRIEFING
Senators Fail to
Stop NLRB’s Harmful Ambush Elections Rule. Manufacturers were
disappointed on Tuesday, April 24, when the Senate rejected (along party
lines) Sen. Michael Enzi's (R-WY) resolution to disapprove the National Labor
Relations Board’s (NLRB) “ambush elections” rule. S.J. Res. 36 was rejected
by a vote of 45-54. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was the only Republican to
vote with the Democrats to defeat the measure.
Under current law, the
median number of days it takes to hold a union representation election is 38
days. This provides enough time for employees to educate themselves and make
informed decisions about whether they wish to join a union or not. The NLRB’s
new regulation, finalized in December and scheduled to take effect on Monday,
April 30, shortens the time frame for union certification elections to 20
days—constraining employers’ ability to inform their employees about a
pending election. It will strip employers of their right to have certain
pre-election disputes adjudicated until after the election has taken place.
Ambush elections also
are bad news for employees. By shortening the time before a union election,
workers will be less likely to get all the facts essential to making such an
important decision. The ambush rule is yet another example of NLRB
overregulation and places an undue burden on employers and employees alike.
The NAM key voted Sen.
Enzi’s measure and, along with the National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB), issued online and radio
ads in targeted states ahead of the Senate vote. The ads highlight that
“rather than enforce existing rules, the NLRB is imposing new regulations
like ambush elections, overturning decades of labor laws to benefit special
interests at the expense of hard working taxpayers…” Prior to the vote, NAM
Senior Vice President of Policy and Government Relations Aric Newhouse issued
a statement
in support of S.J. Res. 36.
"On April 30, the NLRB is set to overhaul 75 years of
established labor policy with new union election rules that are both
unnecessary and misguided. These changes, coupled with additional NLRB
proposals that threaten workplace relations, undermine manufacturers’ efforts
to create jobs and grow the economy,” said Newhouse.
It is still possible that the rule—and the April 30 effective date--will be delayed. The NAM, as part of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, is awaiting the federal court's decision in a motion for injunction to block the rule from taking effect. Click here to read more.
Details: Amanda Wood,
(202) 637-3128 and Joe Trauger, (202)
637-3127.
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NAM Monitors Energy
and Pension Provisions in Transportation Bill. The House and Senate took
the next steps to initiate a conference committee on the surface
transportation authorization this week and appointed 47 conferees. It is not
yet clear when the first conference committee will be held. It is anticipated
that the chairman of the conference will be named by the Senate.
Manufacturers will be closely monitoring key provisions of
importance—including language that would approve the entire Keystone XL
pipeline and provisions that would prevent the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) from regulating coal ash as a hazardous material. Several Senate
Democrats on the conference committee have promised to fight the inclusion of
these two provisions in the transportation bill. Also to be considered as
part of the conference committee will be a pension funding stabilization
provision included in the Senate-passed legislation, which would allow
pension funding obligations to be based on a more historically accurate
interest rate than the rate used today. This provision was included as a way
to help pay for the Senate bill and has the strong support of the business
community. The NAM has been working over the past several months to advance
this provision and will continue to educate the House on the need for funding
stabilization. The NAM will be weighing in with the conference committee in
the weeks ahead.
Details: Robyn Boerstling, (202) 637-3178 and Chip Yost, (202) 637-3175.
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NAM Continues Push for
MTB Process. On March 30, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced that they would
commence the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process. The MTB process allows
companies to request that members of Congress submit bills to suspend import
duties on manufactured goods inputs that are unavailable in the United States
and therefore must be imported. The NAM has been leading the lobbying and
advocacy on this effort, working with relevant congressional committees and
leadership. As there is no domestic production of such goods, the import
duties protect no one and are simply a tax on manufacturing. There is no
limit to the number of bills members of Congress can submit on behalf of
their constituents, and each bill can suspend duties up to $500,000. Duties
are suspended for a three-year period. The NAM has been pushing back on
recent, inaccurate media accounts of the MTB process and published a letter to the editor in Politico
on Thursday, April 26. The letter underscores that MTBs are not earmarks
and are not limited tariff benefits because once a duty is suspended, any
American importer may benefit from it. There is no limit on the number of
businesses or importers who can take advantage of the suspended
duty. The NAM continues to emphasize to members of Congress how MTBs
allow American manufacturers to keep their costs low, retain jobs and improve
competitiveness.
Details: Jessica
Lemos, (202) 637-3078.
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House Turns Its
Attention to NAM-Supported Cybersecurity Bills. As part of what is being
called “Cyber Week” by House leadership, the House is scheduled to vote on
four cybersecurity bills on Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27. The NAM sent
a letter to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 25, in support of all four
bills. The NAM has been advocating for common-sense legislation that removes
the barriers between the public and private sector that prevent them from
sharing cyberthreat information. We have also called for improving how the
federal government coordinates its cybersecurity research and development
(R&D) efforts as well as the importance of a highly-skilled federal
cyber-workforce. These bills address these critical issues for manufacturers.
Details: Brian
Raymond, (202) 637-3072.
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NAM Challenges
NLRB’s Dangerous Micro-Union Policy. The NAM and other business groups
joined in a brief on Monday, April 23, urging the Sixth Circuit to overturn a
new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) policy that makes it easy for an
exceedingly small group of employees to form a collective bargaining unit in
the workplace. The NAM argues that the NLRB’s ruling, which puts an extremely
difficult burden of proof on manufacturers to show that a larger unit is more
appropriate, violates federal law and ignores the responsibility of the Board
to include workers with similar interests in single units. We also argue that
the Board improperly delegated its obligations to workers who want to
unionize, undermining the rights of other workers to fully exercise their
rights. The result of the Board’s policy, announced in the Specialty
Healthcare case last August, is piece-meal unionization, very inefficient
collective bargaining and conflicting workforce demands. This kind of
fundamental policy change should be subject to the rigors of
notice-of-comment rulemaking, not merely announcing the change through a case
decision. See Kindred
Nursing Centers East, LLC v. NLRB (6th Cir.).
Details: Quentin
Riegel, (202) 637-3058.
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