Corporate Member Dues Cut in Half
Tools Available to Comply with Arc Flash Standard
Healthcare Changes Put on Fast Track
Treasury Prepares for Chrysler Bankruptcy
News and Products are Top DCE Features
Corporate Member Dues Cut in Half
The NADCA Board of Governors has unanimously decided to
reduce Corporate Member dues by 50%. This discount is applicable not only for current corporate members, but
also for those companies interested in
joining NADCA as a Corporate Member.
NADCA has been actively responding to the economy and the affects on its member base since the last quarter
of 2008. In December, the Board announced the suspension of the marketing and research and development
assessments, for both corporate and individual memberships. This translated to more than 10% savings on dues,
with no changes made to the benefits of membership.
With the Board’s most recent decision to cut corporate dues for 2009 by half, NADCA is asserting
additional efforts to be responsive to what the industry is experiencing. For any questions on membership and
dues, please contact NADCA’s membership department directly at 847.808.3164.
Tools Available to Comply with Arc Flash Standard
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recently
released the 2009 Edition of NFPA 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace®. This standard
is what OSHA follows to enforce safety in the workplace when an employer is audited. The OSHA Standard provides
the “Shall” portions of the standard and the NFPA 70E provides the “How” of complying with the standard.
This revised standard affects the requirements for an employer to properly comply with arc flash warnings and
regulations. Arc flash is a type of electrical explosion that results from a low impedance connection to ground
or another voltage phase in an electrical system. Die casters will need to follow the standard to properly label
equipment, define what personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn around the equipment if it is going to
be worked on or opened while energized and provide training to personnel to ensure that these requirements are
followed.
For more information and tools to help comply with this standard,
click here.
Healthcare Changes Put on Fast Track
Changes may be underway sooner than expected in
areas such as healthcare reform and the expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act due to pressure from
the White House. Now it is more important than ever to express your interests on behalf of the die
casting industry at the
2009 Metalcasting Government Affairs Conference.
The conference is next week, but there is still time to register! The New York Times reports Democrats
"are tempted to use their political muscle to speed passage of health care legislation with minimal
concessions to the Republican minority."
Bloomberg News reports Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said the White House "is pressing
Democrats to use the parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation that allows measures to pass the
Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes that are needed to overcome stalling tactics."
The Hill says lawmakers "from both sides of the aisle have shifted their positions on the use of"
reconciliation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "called the use of reconciliation 'untoward' in 2001, but recently
said he may embrace it for healthcare reform." And Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who defended
using reconciliation when pushing President Bush’s tax cuts through the Senate, "has warned
Democrats not to do it in 2009."
Roll Call reports that "key GOP Senators are signaling plans to avenge" the use of reconciliation "by
employing parliamentary tactics to trip up even the most noncontroversial of agenda items."
Treasury Preparing for Chrysler Bankruptcy
The UAW announced that a settlement agreement has been
reached with Chrysler, Fiat and the U.S. Treasury Department. When Chrysler’s Feb. 17 viability plan
was rejected, President Obama gave Chrysler workers and the company a second chance, union officials
said. This concessionary agreement, while painful, takes advantage of this opportunity.
The settlement agreement, subject to ratification by UAW members at Chrysler, meets the requirements of
U.S. Treasury Department loans to the company. It includes modifications to the union’s 2007 collective
bargaining agreement and the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust.
Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, and keynote speaker at NADCA’s
upcoming Metalcasting Government Affairs Conference
remarked that the treasury plan could affect the wallets of taxpayers. “The Treasury plan reportedly preempts
the bankruptcy judge by guaranteeing worker pensions and retiree health care benefits. Similarly, this sets a
dangerous precedent for General Motors and Ford.” Morici stated.
Morici further commented, “Obama's favoritism toward the union in these negotiations is a clear example of
political expediency imposing grave economic costs. Specifically, Chapter 11 makes the potential deal with
Fiat to provide small car designs to be built in Chrysler factories much less likely. Hence, the company
that emerges from Chapter 11 will be much smaller than the one that would have emerged through the task force's
mediation, because the company that emerges from bankruptcy may not have small cars to make at a time when
the market wants them. More of Chrysler's car assembly plants will be permanently shuttered.”
News and Products are Top DCE Features
In a recently conducted survey of DCE, results
showed — not surprisingly — that two of the three most-read sections of DCE are Industry News and New
Products, Services & Solutions. Based on that, be sure to submit your press releases to dce@diecasting.org.
If you have regular media e-mails, put us on your list. Utilizing the Industry News and New Products
sections is a great way to get publicity, especially for Corporate Members. Corporate Members are allowed
one free listing in the New Products section each issue of the magazine, and individuals are allowed one
free listing per year. Others have a small fee. Any regular news releases run at no charge. To submit
your press releases online, visit www.diecastingengineer.org.
