Last year, the misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act” (EFCA) was introduced in Congress. This legislation effectively eliminates the secret ballot process for choosing union representation and replaces it with a “card check system” when employees are deciding whether or not to join a union. Earlier attempts to pass card check legislation in Congress were narrowly blocked.  However, union bosses have made it clear that their highest legislative priority next year is passage of EFCA.

The card check bill would eliminate decades of precedent established under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 by taking away employees’ freedom to choose under a federally supervised, secret ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union.

Current procedures lead to swift and fair elections—most elections are held within 56 days filing an election petition, and labor unions prevail more than half of the time. Under current law, union organizers have to obtain the signatures of 30 percent of employees that express interest in joining a union. After these signatures are collected, union organizers can petition the National Labor Relations Board to hold a secret ballot election. If the labor union receives more than 50% of the vote in a federally-monitored secret ballot election, the union is certified and collective bargaining must begin.

However, under EFCA secret ballot elections are replaced with a system called “card check” which allows a union to organize if a majority of employees simply sign an authorization card. Under this system, the employees’ signatures are made public to the employer, the union organizers and co-workers. Under a card check system workers face intimidation and pressure about how they should choose from the union, from management or both.

Trading federally supervised private ballot elections for a card check process tramples the privacy of individual workers. Secret ballots are the only way to protect an individual’s freedom to choose without subtle or overt coercion. 

New research shows troubling signs for candidates who support the union “card check” legislation.  The surveys conducted in states across the country show a majority of voters oppose the elimination of secret ballot union elections. This research also shows dissonance between union members’ concerns and the legislative agenda of union leaders. In most states, opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act is actually higher among union households. However, organized labor has made it clear that passage of EFCA is their highest priority.

If Congress passes this proposal, they will be stripping away federally protected private ballots from the hands of American workers. Legislative action on this misguided proposal is expected to take place early next year. It is important to contact your elected officials now and urge them not to support this misleading legislation that would effectively eliminate private ballots for employees. Employers are encouraged to visit a card check toolkit available at: www.nam.org/efca to get more information on how to raise awareness of this important issue.

Producing screw machine parts opened many doors for W.R. Wisecarver & Company.  The United States government soon found out about us and our machinery, and contracted with me to produce wheel bushings for the Nike Missile project.  The part required grooves that were difficult to machine, but I figured out a way to do it quickly and inexpensively.

Another important client was Ray Bishop, a salesman who sold bread trays.  Ray used my screw machine parts for a product that secured bread trays during transport.  He also asked me to help design an improved version of this product.  The result was the Saf-T-Sta, a cargo bar that streamlined the loading and unloading of delivery trucks.  Saf-T-Sta later became the standard of the industry.

Ray then asked me to start work on a specialized bread tray known as the Fol-Carri.  It was this proposition that launched W.R. Wisecarver & Company into the manufacturing business.  I went from a crew of just a few people to a crew of more than 30.  It was a huge growth spurt, and it all happened overnight.

We quickly outgrew our 4,000 square foot Cowell space and began looking for a bigger building.  I met a realtor who offered me more than double the space at Camp Stoneman, a Pittsburg, California military staging area, which was now closed and up for grabs.  The price was right, and with four buildings, there was room to grow. 

We moved into one of those buildings, but with the Fol-Carri line taking off, we soon occupied the adjacent buildings as well.  W.R. Wisecarver & Company had become the largest machine shop in Easy County, and the largest “general jobbing” shop.  People who needed products designed and built came to us, and I often performed outside repairs on machinery for major corporations across the region.

During the early 1960’s, I manufactured all the products Ray sold.  Ray and I decided to merge our companies in 1967, and Bishop-Wisecarver Corporation was born.  For the first eight years, bread trays and Saf-T-Sta cargo bars were our main product lines.

Next, DualVee joins the mix.

Part 1        Part 2        Part 3        Part 4

From February 13 through Feb. 15, 2007, manufacturers—large, mid-sized and small—will travel to Washington, D.C., for NAM’s Manufacturers’ Week in Washington: 72 Hours To educate and celebrate. For several years now I have braved the winter weather to be part of this event. www.nam.org

Tonight was a really great night for me because I was able to attend the Reception and Dinner with Fred Barnes, Executive Editor, The Weekly Standard and FOX News Commentator. I have grown up listening to Fred Barnes as one of the “talking heads” on the McLaughlin group on PBS. He is a smart and articulate man with a great wit and a good dose of common sense.

Interestingly enough, we almost did not have the dinner. It seems that Washington DC does not know how to handle rain, snow and ice. Everything was shut down today due to the “storm”. Even though I am a native Californian, I had to laugh. This “storm” did not even produce snow that could last once it hit the ground. Yet schools and government offices were shutting down. Go figure!

Mr. Barnes made some great points in his keynote this evening. I will highlight some of the points that struck me the most.

Even though the Democrats have the majority now, they are finding that it is not so easy to pass their agenda. The main reason is that it has been proven many times that you cannot govern from Capitol Hill unless you are the President. Newt Gringrich learned this as well the hard way.

President Bush no longer gives speeches that really move the country. This hurts his overall popularity. After 9/11, on 9/20 he gave a speech that was able to galvanize the country. Since then, he really has not been able to impact the country with his speeches, and his approval rating shows this.

In regards to the war – Americans are a very impatient people and we need a victory in sight to stay supportive. The country does not see a victory clearly insight and therefore has lost their support for the war. This makes it an unpopular war, which does not equal a wrong or unjust war. However, it will be tough to get out of the war in a positive manner at this point.

According to Mr. Barnes, the most important man to watch and the key indicator of Washington DC is Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He is a master of the philabuster. Therefore, he influences legislation in two key ways. He can either kill it or move to shape it through his tactics. Watch him - what does he say, what does he do. He is the second most powerful Republican in DC.

All this going into an election year means there will be some challenging times for manufacturing in the US. America is much more focused on the candidates and the media frenzy around them than what is happening to the backbone of the American economy – Manufacturing.

We frequently get requests for custom grease for high/low temperature, wash down environments, or food applications, or we can provide wheels completely dry for applications like medical devices where the possibility of contamination is an issue.  We can accommodate custom bearing or seal materials, single row bearings (vs. our standard double-row), or even a custom vee other than our typical DualVee 90 degree design.  Specialty bearings to fit most any specification are possible.

I was now a married man, with a family to support.  I soon found found a friend who was building a screw machine business.  He had more orders than he could fill, so I stepped in to help, running a small screw machine business out of my basement.  It was a family affair, and my wife Judy learned to run the machine too.  She earned enough money to buy her first washing machine by making screw machine parts while the kids were napping.

One day, a policeman knocked on the door and informed me that I couldn’t operate the business in a residential area.  So, with the help of a neighborhood boy, I moved my business to Cowell, a cement manufacturing town that later became a part of Concord, CA.  The move took all weekend, and we were up and running on Monday morning.

Moving out to Cowell was the best move I ever made.  I was one of the first tenants, but many others arrived shortly after, and they all needed what I had to offer.  The move provided the business and space to grow.

The early days were a challenge.  I worked long hours to build a clientele and support my family. When you start any business, you have to be aware of the extra time and effort it will require, and as my wife says, “whoever is running the household better know how to do it on a shoestring”.

Next time, I’ll tell you about meeting an important client, and eventually, my partner, Ray Bishop.

Part 1        Part 2        Part 3     

The Renault F1 Team will line-up on the grid in Melbourne without a proven star driver to take over from Alonso’s departure. Heikki Kovalainen will take the open slot left by Alonso, and Fisichella will occupy the second car. What remains to be seen is if either Fisichella or Kovalainen can become world champion contenders. I have my doubts that Fisichella can be world champion. For two years, he has won two grand prix races to Alonso’s 14 grand prix wins. Under pressure Fisichella makes too many mistakes. Therefore, I do not feel that he can be number 1 despite a highly competitive car.

In another interesting event, Sebastien Bourdais the champ car champion has a chance to show what he can do with the Torro Rossi Team starting on the 13^th. I have always been curious of his potential because of his dominance in the Champ Car series especially on road courses.

During the autumn months of 1950, I started my first business in an Oakland, CA noodle plant that had been confiscated from its Japanese owner during WWII.  I called this company W.R. Wisecarver & Company.  Rent was cheap back then, and the building had everything I needed; space for a small office, and a loading dock.  Here, I continued fabricating truck accessories, and met two men who would help me write the first chapter of my business success.

First, I met a wealthy realtor who asked me to help build a Class K Runabout, known today as a cigarette boat.  The realtor also owned a local venetian blind company that painted blind strips.  Despite the company’s government contracts, it wasn’t profitable.  The realtor sold his venetian blind company to another businessman, who offered me a job re-building the plant to bring it up to modern standards.  I was 22 at the time.

The slat mill operated 6 hours a day and employed six people.  From the freight area to packaging to shipping, I knew there was a better way, and I set off redesiging the plant piece by piece.  I added a second oven and plant efficiency doubled.  Three years later, the plant was running 24 hours per day with the same number of people.  But now that the mill was running at full capacity, I was out of a job.

In Part 4, I’ll tell you about my “best move”.

Part 1          Part 2

- - Bud - -

The 2006 Formula 1 series came to a close this past weekend in Brazil. Felipe Masa won his home grand prix, but more importantly the weekend marked Michael Schumacher’s last grand prix. Next year, Alonso will be the only driver on the grid to have won a world championship.

I am disappointed to see Alonso, the 2006 world champion driver, depart to McLaren, and time will tell if McLaren is in a position to contend for the world championship. In 2006 the McLaren cars were less than competitive. However, 2007 is a new year albeit still without Adrian Newey at the helm of design. Next year will also see Renault without a proven race winning driver.

Time will tell who will be atop in the new post-Schumacher era of Formula 1.

Wow! What great activity around this show this year. This show is held every two years in Chicago. I must admit, the traffic we saw at the start of this show was fantastic. It took me back to when Manufacturing Week used to be a great show. People crowded the halls from early morning to close.

We went to this year’s show to launch our newest product SRX-150. We were late getting into the show, so did not have the best location, but with the traffic levels this year it really did not seem to hurt us. I was very happy with the feedback and interest we received on the SRX-150.

This product helps to round out product offering for complete gantry systems. The SRX-150 performs well in vertical applications and/or with large moment loads.

We also had the opportunity to get all salesmen together for a meeting. This is always a lot of fun and helps to build enthusiasm and a sense of team spirit. I was really impressed with the application stories that were submitted for the meeting. Our products get used in some of the most interesting applications. These stories will be added to the web site as they are finalized by the marketing department. So check back often for new content!

This is a great industry show that happens every two years. Located in Atlanta it is a big show all about the wood industry from processing machines to consumer kitchen cabinets.

It was encouraging to see the traffic at this year’s event, much better than two years ago. Having a bigger booth and a corner location helped our lead generation as well.

We got several great opportunities at the show. Some potential customers even showed up to the booth with application drawings in hand. This was fantastic to see!

This industry is so perfect for our DualVee product. Sawdust is no match for the DualVee track and wheel. It will just keep rolling and pushing through all the wood debris.