PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH PRECISION PITTSBURGH WINTER 2015 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1 MANUFACTURING AMERIC A’S FUTURE DATES TO REMEMBER: Details available at: www.pghntma.org APPRENTICE COMPETITION NCC Training and Innovation Center February 27, 2015 BotsIQ PRELIMINARY EVENT Butler Community College March 6, 2015 MFG Meeting Orlando, FL March 4-7, 2015 BotsIQ PRELIMINARY EVENT Westmoreland Community College March 13 & 14, 2015 One Voice Legislative Conference Washington, D.C. April 21 - 25, 2015 BotsIQ FINALS California University April 24 & 25, 2015 APPRENTICE GRADUATION Stratigos Banquet Center June 10, 2015 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fast Track: the wrong way to do free trade pg. 3 Make the Pledge pg. 6 One Voice: Issues to Watch pg. 10 New Training Approach for Millenials pg. 12 MFG Meeting pg. 16 CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL 401(K) SAVINGS AND INVESTING By Arthur F. Hazen, Jr., AIFA Medallion Wealth Management Group and Terry Connerton, Esq. ONE VOICE LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE: BE HEARD BY YOUR WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVES By Franklin Partnership, LLP You’re encouraged to bring some common- sense solutions to Washington and join the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) for the seventh- annual NTMA/PMA One Voice Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., April 21- 22, 2015. This is your chance to have your voice heard directly by the policymakers who are creating the laws of the nation. The 2014 elections ushered in yet another wave of change in Congress—one that allowed Republicans to take control of the U.S. Senate and install Sen. Mitch McConnell as the new Majority Leader. In the House, Republicans hold their largest majority in 86 years. In 2015, Congress is expected to tackle some tough issues such as energy costs and taxes, while EPA and OSHA will be issuing more regulations in the final two years of the Obama Administration. It is important that policymakers hear how these decisions (Continued on page 9) FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE KEY ISSUES ONE VOICE IS ADDRESSING IN 2015 SEE PAGES 10 & 11 In today’s evolving marketplace, a large portion of the onus for retirement savings has fallen primarily on employer retirement plans and their participants. Employers establishing such plans have challenges in understanding and complying with fiduciary rules governing the plan. Employees are challenged to make important decisions that will have a significant impact on their future. Let’s look at several suggestions that may help. First, financial advisors are stepping up to the plate in a co -fiduciary or full fiduciary capacity, assisting employers in the selection and monitoring of investment options made available under their plans. Part of the responsibility of fiduciaries to 401(k) plans is to ensure that participants have multiple options available to them in which to direct investment of plan assets held in their accounts. The law requires a broad range of investment alternatives which are diversified and offer materially different risk and return characteristics. (Continued on page 4)
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ONE VOICE FOCUS Courtesy of the Franklin Partnership, LLP
NLRB Ambush Elections (April 2015) On Capitol
Hill and in the courts, One Voice and coalition
partners have repeatedly defeated the Ambush
Election rule. However, the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) issued a new final rule in
December 2014 to shorten the time from when a
union election is called and a vote is held to as
little as 10 days (from the current average of 56
days). Through its coalition partners, One Voice
filed a lawsuit against the NLRB over this new
rule, which attempts to circumvent a court ruling
striking down a previous Ambush Election NLRB
proposal.
Department of Labor Persuader Rule (July 2015)
The Department of Labor indicated it would
release its final “Persuader Rule” in July 2015 after
repeated delays of its initial proposal beginning in
June 2011. The Secretary of Labor has long said
the rule is a priority and forthcoming. The new
regulation requires that employers and their
advisors file certain reports with the Department if
they use outside labor consultants to interact with
their employees during a union organizing activity
or collective bargaining dispute.
OSHA Electronic Recordkeeping (August 2015)
One Voice filed comments opposing an
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) proposal to post on the Internet incident/
injury reports similar to Form 300A. The
administration is trying to require businesses with
20 or more employees to file incident/accident
reports electronically on an annual basis (those
with more than 250 employees file quarterly)
which they will make public. In August 2014,
OSHA issued a supplemental notice to amend the
original rule to require that employers inform their
employees of their right to report injuries and
adding whistleblower protections for employees.
The proposed rule does not improve workplace
safety and will only create a misperception of
manufacturing as a dangerous occupation. The
OSHA Electronic Recordkeeping rule becomes
final in August 2015.
Greenhouse Gas Rule (June 2015) One Voice filed
comments opposing a June 2014 EPA draft
regulation aiming to reduce carbon dioxide and
other emissions from existing power plants up to
30 percent by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.
The regulation follows a rule regulating emissions
from new power plants, requiring new coal-fired
facilities to trap or "capture" carbon emissions – a
roughly 60% reduction. More than 2.65 million
stakeholders filed comments on the proposal. EPA
is on track to finalize the rule in June 2015.
Ground Level Carbon Emissions (October 2015)
The day before Thanksgiving 2014, the
administration announced it would move forward
with further regulation of ground level ozone, the
main component of smog. One Voice is strongly
opposed to this new initiative, which experts say
will cost the U.S. economy $3.4 trillion by 2040
and put nearly 3 million jobs at risk each year. The
White House twice ordered the EPA to delay the
proposal – ahead of the 2012 Presidential elections
and most recently, prior to the 2014 Congressional
midterms. The proposal will reduce ground level
ozone levels from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to as
low as 65ppb. Some environmental groups are
calling for a reduction to 60ppb, which would
classify the entire U.S. as a non-attainment zone,
potentially limiting manufacturing production,
expansion of facilities, and hiring new employees.
The EPA announced it will finalize the new ozone
standards by October 1, 2015.
IRS 501(c)(4) Political Activity Report (Pending
2015) In May 2014 the IRS announced it will
withdraw a proposed rule governing the political
activities of IRS(c)(4) groups. One Voice filed
comments with the IRS against the proposed rule,
which the agency considered extending to
nonprofit groups such as PMA and NTMA. The
rule could prevent associations from distributing
information to their members about congressional
candidates in the final weeks of a campaign.
Sources indicate the IRS will now try again and
move the rule in 2015.
The final two years of the Obama Administration promises to bring a flurry of environmental and work-place regulations. In 2014 alone, the EPA proposed rules costing manufacturers billions of dollars each year. Following are a few of the regulatory issues on which One Voice is focusing its attention in 2015:
Page 11
Creation of Micro-Unions within a Single Employer
(Pending 2015) One Voice is part of a broad
coalition involved in challenging the legality of an
NLRB decision allowing as few as two employees to
form a micro-union. This potentially means
employers would have to negotiate with multiple
unions in contract discussions – from production to
janitorial to administrative. Opponents have filed
suit and will continue to fight the latest attempt by
the NLRB to permit the formation of micro-unions.
Courts are expected to rule in 2015.
Combustible Dust Standards (February 2016)
OSHA pushed back its proposed Combustible Dust
Standards while it worked on the Silica Dust rule.
However, the Department of Labor announced in its
Fall 2014 Semiannual Regulatory Agenda that
OSHA plans to convene a small business review
panel for combustible dust in February 2016. Since
2011, OSHA repeatedly delayed convening the
panel, a requirement before the rule may proceed.
Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2)
(October 2016) In 2014, under pressure from One
Voice and other industry partners, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) quietly
announced it is delaying a proposed rule requiring
employers to implement an Injury and Illness
Prevention Program (I2P2). This proposed rule will
include new standards of what constitutes an
effective workplace safety program. The
International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) is working on global guidelines it may finalize
in October 2016 (ISO 45001: 2016)
Page 12 PRECISION PITTSBURGH
Finding millennials who are interested
in manufacturing and have the aptitude
for it are two challenges facing Western
Pennsylvania manufacturers trying to
replace retiring baby boomers. But
there’s another: teaching millennials
once they find them.
Employers are discovering that the next
generation of workers learns differently
than they did.
“Millennials like to see results right
now,” said Scott Covert, who runs an
in-house training program at Penn
United Technologies, a Butler County
tool-and-die shop that employs about
600.
That requires online courses and lots of
hands-on work where students learn
practical applications of theory.
At Butler County Community College,
which offers a number of
manufacturing-related degrees, getting
and keeping millennials engaged means
using 3-D printers, laser cutters and
other equipment that puts a finished
product in students’ hands quickly. The
products include 3-D printed plastic
molds used to make chocolate candies
featuring the school’s logo.
“These students are so used to instant
gratification. This feeds right into their
personality,” said Mike Aikens, a
natural science and technology
professor. “We have to connect with
them. They are digital natives.”
One of the classes Mr. Aikens teaches
was developed through National
Science Foundation grants promoting
science, technology, engineering and
math, or STEM, skills. The grants fund
workshops where teachers learn how to
teach other teachers how to incorporate
lessons in those subjects into a semester
-long class where students make custom
-designed electric guitars.
About 2.7 million manufacturing
workers are expected to retire in the
next eight years or so, according to the
Manufacturing Institute, the research
arm of the National Association of
Manufacturers. While the economy and
a lack of retirement savings may
(Continued on page 13)
MANUFACTURERS DRAW IN MILLENNIALS
WITH NEW TRAINING APPROACH By Len Boselovic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“We have to connect with them.
They are digital natives.”
Page 13
persuade some boomers to work a few more years,
manufacturers know they will eventually have to replace
them.
However, the pool of potential recruits is limited by the
mistaken impression that manufacturing means doing
dirty jobs in dirty places.
“Advanced manufacturing today is a very high-tech,
high-skilled career,” said Neil Ashbaugh, who oversees
training at Oberg Industries, a Buffalo Township
company that produces machined and stamped metal
parts.
Mr. Ashbaugh, 45, joined Oberg as an apprentice in
1993, knowing that it would take him 42 to 54 months
to complete the program. Today, online courses allow
apprentices to complete the program at their own pace,
Mr. Ashbaugh said.
“I still enjoy seminars where I sit and get lectures. The
millennials are a little different,” he said.
They include his son, Ian, who is pursuing an associate
degree in engineering at Butler Community College.
This semester, Ian Ashbaugh and his classmates
designed novelty holders for USB devices, then
produced them on the school’s 3-D printer. Some
designs didn’t work because they didn’t take into
account the space needed to insert the USB device into
a port.
Mr. Ashbaugh said his son reported the assignment
taught him that while manufacturing creates neat things,
“When you get into business, you have to create neat
things that work or solve a problem.’’
Last year, Penn United started a semester-long program
that teaches high school students basic technical skills
through a combination of online learning and hands-on
work at the company’s training center. About 70 to 100
students from Butler, Knoch and Karns City high
schools and Evangel Heights Christian Academy are
expected to complete the free course this year, Mr.
Covert said.
Kennametal, a Latrobe-area tool maker, started a high
school-level program three years ago to get students
interested in manufacturing careers. About 150 students
have completed its semester-long Young Engineers
program, which is available at Greater Latrobe Senior
High School as well as at Solon High School in
suburban Cleveland, where Kennametal has a plant.
Several graduates of the program later accepted
internships with the company.
Matt Kovac, dean of Butler County Community
Colleges Natural Science and Technology
department, said the school’s emphasis on hands-
on learning and making things fills a void in
millennials’ experience.
Previous generations had plenty of opportunities to
learn how to fix or make things, whether it was
through Lincoln Log kits or getting help fixing a
car from their father or neighbor. Millennials
“don’t have the built-in familiarity with fixing
(Continued from page 12) things, making things,” he said.
Mr. Kovacs wonders if some of the enthusiasm generated
when students learn how to make guitars, USB device
holders and other things comes from the fact those kinds
of opportunities aren’t as abundant as they were when he