Ford and Canadian Workers in Tentative Deal

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Ford and Canadian Workers in Tentative Deal

By IAN AUSTEN

OTTAWA — The Canadian Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract deal with the Ford Motor Company of Canada on Monday just hours before a midnight strike deadline.

And Monday night, after reaching the accord, Ken Lewenza, the president of the union, said the union had extended contract negotiations with General Motors of Canada and Chrysler Canada. He warned, however, that the two automakers would face a strike unless they agreed to the same key terms as Ford.

“The gap is still miles apart because we have a tremendous amount of work,” Mr. Lewenza said. “There’s so many issues on the table it would impossible for General Motors and Chrysler’s to respond.”

The extension followed the arrival at the negotiations in downtown Toronto of two senior executives from Detroit: Al Iacobelli, the vice president for employee relations at Chrysler, and Cathy Clegg, General Motors’ vice president for labor relations.

Mr. Lewenza said the extension was intended to give the companies time to study the tentative agreement reached with Ford. If the union believes they are procrastinating, he said, it will give two automakers 24 hours notice of a strike.

“Our patience and anxieties in the workplace only have so much time,” Mr. Lewenza said.

While the union gave concessions to Ford on wages and pensions, it said it was still able to uphold its major negotiating principles. Ford agreed to gradually rehire about 600 union members who were laid off from its plants, and it committed to produce a new line of vehicles at its assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario.

It is a good deal in these economic times, Mr. Lewenza told a news conference. “It’s far from a carry-over agreement.”

Mr. Lewenza emphasized that the union would not budge on its traditional approach of requiring all three Detroit-based companies to accept the same key contract terms, a system known as pattern bargaining.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Striking Caterpillar Workers Ratify Contract Offer

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Saturday, August 18, 2012

Striking Caterpillar Workers Ratify Contract Offer

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Workers who had been striking at a Caterpillar hydraulic parts factory in Joliet, Ill., voted on Friday to ratify a proposed six-year contract that contained almost all of the concessions the company had demanded.

In ratifying the deal, the strikers acted against recommendations made by leaders of their union local, who had objected strongly to the pact. The agreement was negotiated by union leaders from the district level to end a showdown that had gone on for months without significant progress toward a resolution.

The fight between Caterpillar and the International Association of Machinists was considered a test case in American labor relations, in part because Caterpillar was driving such a hard bargain when its business was thriving.

The strike by 780 members of the machinists began on May 1 as workers rejected Caterpillar’s demand for a six-year wage freeze for two-thirds of the factory’s workers — those hired before May 2005 — at a time when the company was reporting record profits. Caterpillar argued that wages for the higher-paid workers exceeded market levels.

The deal the workers ratified contained far-reaching concessions, including the wage freeze, a pension freeze for the more senior two-thirds of the workers and a steep increase in what the workers pay toward their health care insurance. It also called for a $3,100 ratification bonus, which union officials said Caterpillar agreed on Thursday to increase from $1,000.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Signs of Life

On CNBC, Larry Mocha, Air Power Systems Co. and Marc Schuper, Schuper & Sons, offer perspectives on the pulse of small business right now.  In particular, Mr. Mocha states that the economy is getting better, especially in Oklahoma.  "Oklahoma needs workers!" he says.  Oklahoma needs people who can work with their hands.  Oklahoma needs people who can do things.

To see the video, click the link below:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000081094

Do-it-yourself App Creators: ?Show Me Some Love?

Do-it-yourself App Creators: ?Show Me Some Love?

Intuit QuickBase Study Reveals Motivations and Industry Trends Among DIY App Creators in the Enterprise

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Mar. 22, 2012 – “Show me some love.” That’s the plea from a growing number of information workers who independently develop in-house Web applications for their employers.

A recent survey from QuickBase, a unit of Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), found that nearly one in five information workers at mid-size to large enterprises have built or customized a Web application or software for work purposes on their own. These DIYers are passionate and motivated to help their teams, and the majority feels their employers should recognize their contributions. Nearly six in 10 – a total of 58 percent– believe their employers should recognize their efforts in the form of financial compensation. However, among DIYers whose companies explicitly do not support their independent efforts, the percentage increases to 71 percent.

Recognition need not be monetary. “A little recognition can go a long way,” said Allison Mnookin, vice president and general manager of Intuit QuickBase. “Supporting and recognizing DIY efforts – no matter how you do it – pays off.

 “You’re motivating and rewarding employees who go above and beyond their job descriptions, make their teams more efficient, and solve problems for their companies. Endorsing and celebrating internal innovation can fuel its rapid spread throughout the organization.”

Other forms of recognition respondents found rewarding include publicizing their solutions internally (33 percent) and getting promoted (25 percent).

DIYers Are Pervasive in Select Industries

Computer and IT services firms have the highest percentage of DIY information workers, the survey found, with 62 percent of respondents reporting they have built or customized apps for work. Conversely, these firms are not necessarily empowering their workers to create their own solutions – either by providing the required tools or authorizing employees to find and use their own. In fact, 43 percent of the DIYer population at computer and IT service firms said they are not empowered by their organizations.

Professional services companies reported the second-highest amount of DIYers at 53 percent. And their employees are more likely to feel free to act on their own. A total of 61 percent of the DIYer population said they were empowered by their companies to innovate on their own, the highest among all industries. Professionals in consultancy roles are constantly driven to solve client problems and this data indicates they likely nurture that innovative mentality amongst their employees.

The financial services and insurance industries, where tight IT controls and deep-seated work processes are commonplace, have the highest percentage of non-empowered DIYers. At the same time, however, 43.5 percent still create their own solutions.

Industry	Total % of DIYers	% Empowered	% Non-empowered
Computer & IT Services	62.3	57.1	42.9
Professional Services	53.0	61.1	38.9
Manufacturing	51.4	50.0	50.0
Financial Services & Insurance	43.5	41.1	58.9

“DIYers create lasting value companies should love. Endorsement from management propels the success of DIY solutions even further,” Mnookin added.

In fact, 85 percent of apps created by empowered DIYers are still being used within their organization or team, while non-empowered workers see sustained adoption rates of 77 percent for their solutions.

About the Survey

Intuit and Global Strategy Group surveyed more than 900 information workers at companies with more than 100 employees in October 2011, investigating whether they felt empowered to solve customer and work process problems on their own. The survey also asked whether employees were sanctioned by corporate IT departments to use technologies of their choice to do so. To find more resources on the topic, please visit the Workplace Innovation section of the QuickBase blog. The study was inspired by Forrester Research’s June 2010 report, “The HERO Index: Finding Empowered Employees.”

Additional Resources

• Infographic
• The QuickBase blog
• Intuit QuickBase on Twitter
• Intuit QuickBase Press Room

About QuickBase

Used by more than half of the Fortune 100, Intuit QuickBase is a proven and trusted online database software designed with the business user in mind to help them improve personal productivity, communication and collaboration. Business users can select from hundreds of ready-to-use database applications such as online project management and sales management software or customize an application to match the exact workflow and unique needs of their team.

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants. Intuit Financial Services helps banks and credit unions grow by providing on-demand solutions and services that make it easier for consumers and businesses to manage their money.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.9 billion in its fiscal year 2011. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

Intuit, the Intuit logo, and QuickBase, among others, are registered trademarks and/or registered service marks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries. For free trials and promotions, please see the websites listed above for the terms, conditions, and restrictions related to such offers.

Advertising: Made in America Resonates

Excerpt from an article in The New York Times
Thursday, February 16, 2012

Made-in-America Resonates With Marketers 

By STUART ELLIOTT

BLUE-COLLAR workers in fields like manufacturing — particularly when they make products on American soil — are again becoming a favorite subject for white-collar workers on Madison Avenue.

The trend was born of the economic worries that followed the financial crisis in 2008. Recently, it is gaining steam — appropriate, since the ads often use blasts of steam to signal something is being built — with proposals in Washington to offer incentives to encourage the location or relocation of factories in the United States.

“We continue to see very heavy emotional response to anything that would leverage against the bad economy,” said Robert Passikoff, president at Brand Keys, a brand and customer-loyalty consulting company in New York.

The trend is even extending beyond advertising. For instance, “ABC World News” is running a series of reports under the rubric “Made in America,” in which anchors and reporters celebrate a preference for buying merchandise made in this country.

The most notable moment to date in the trend came on Feb. 5, when Super Bowl XLVI was played, as marketers paid NBC tens of millions of dollars to run commercials with work themes before the game, during the game and during halftime.

Those commercials included spots for General Electric, part of a campaign carrying the theme “G.E. works,” that celebrated products like refrigerators and turbines being built in the United States; a spot that showed a bottle of new Bud Light Platinum beer being produced in a plant that looked more like a factory than a brewery; and a spot for Hyundai, featuring workers employed at its first American factory, in Montgomery, Ala.

Oregon Potato Company Pays EPA Penalty for Failing to Report

News release from EPA:

Oregon Potato Company pays EPA penalty for failing to report ammonia release

Wally Moon, EPA Preparedness and Prevention Unit Manager, 206-553-6323, moon.wally@epa.gov
Tony Brown, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-1203, brown.anthony@epa.gov

(Seattle—Jan. 26, 2012) Oregon Potato Company failed to report an anhydrous ammonia release at their facility in Warden, Washington and will pay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a $66,235 penalty.

On July 2, 2009, the facility released approximately 300 pounds of anhydrous ammonia into the environment, according to the EPA settlement. The facility, located at 1900 First Avenue West in Warden, Washington, produces dried and dehydrated frozen potato products.


According to Wally Moon, EPA Preparedness and Prevention Unit Manager in Seattle, these cases are about protecting workers, emergency responders and the community.


“When unintended chemical releases occur, every minute counts if it is an emergency,” said EPA’s Moon. “Emergency responders need to be notified promptly to react effectively.”


The leak occurred when a circuit breaker failed, causing a pressure relief valve to open releasing the anhydrous ammonia. EPA alleges that Oregon Potato failed to immediately notify local and state agencies about the release. While no injuries were reported at the time of the incident, ammonia is a pungent, toxic gas that attacks skin, eyes, throat, and lungs and can cause serious injury or death.


The ammonia release and the failure to notify appropriate agencies are violations of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).


For information on EPA's Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, visit http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/epcra/epcraenfstatreq.html


For more about toxic effects of Anhydrous Ammonia (NIOSH GUIDE): http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0028.html

Sweeping Changes in Store for Unions and Employers

Remember the proposed "card check" legislation a few years ago?  Many of the proposed changes of that legislation are being implemented through the rulemaking process.  See the linked article for details.

http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/01/05/sweeping-changes-in-store-for-unions-and-employers/