No strikes, no lock outs, no disruptiions from either side.
http://www.pjstar.com/breaking/x1512121718/UAW-voting-on-contract-with-Caterpillar-leader-support-ratification

Its not the strike itself, its the threat of a strike that keeps Caterpillar the UAW's bitch.

While in a training class in Peoria the instructor said that he has to work so many hours in the factory in case of a strike.  That way he knows how to do their job should the need arise. Another instructor told us that when they go on strike and the salaried employees take over the productivity goes through the roof.

And no wonder it is relocating to right to work states.

If true, good!

And everybody wins.... Except the union

I don't think CAT cares one way or the other. Growing up I always laughed at the dummies freezing their asses off around burn barrels in the middle of winter. Then they'd lose their bass boat and pick up trucks over .25/hr or some other stupid "concession" they wanted.



Last stirke I remember my FIL had a blast running a fork lift.

Growing up in central Illinois and hearing of Cat strikes hat went on and on and on.....Cat still maintained the business while these UAW pukes froze their nuts off walking a picket line. I hope they leave Illinois and let Peoria decline even more. Just like Springfield when Allis left.

That is....unfortunate. The time to break unions is now.





Of course, if Cat is relocating to right to work states, they may have an ace up their sleeve.

As a Peoria resident this is great news and not really a surprise. The Union was broke the last strike, they know what would happen if they pulled that shit again.

It wasn't decertified and it's former members told to seek other employment opportunities, so it was not broken.



 

True. They're building a facility in NC.

I always laughed at the idiots out on strike for an extra 50 cents an hour. I worked for a shop and had to join the UAW this was in the early 90s I figured out how the company does not lose a dime during a strike.

If you added up all the money lost in wages while being on strike and then subtract the few pennies you get  from the strike fund. then add up the extra .50 cents you got per hour for a raise that you  were striking for. most of the time the extra money you got as a raise will never cover the money you lost while being on strike. Or it would take 3 years or so to make up for lost wages while being on strike, just in time for the next contract talks, then the unions pigs usually raise the dues right after the .50 an hour kicked in so in reality the extra money in the paycheck is a wash.

And don't think companies don't know that, they know if the union idiots spend 3 months on strike, they will save X amount of dollars in wages not paid to workers on strike, and then they bargain the increase in pay and that amount sometimes is about what they saved while union slugs were on strike so in reality it's a wash for the company, they do not lose money because they saved wages paid and when they start paying wages again it won't effect the base cost. The union wins because they get an extra amount from the workers paycheck in dues.

The only people who get screwed are the workers that walk off the job, they NEVER recover the lost wages and little extra per hour they struck for never helps cover the cost of how much they lost while being on strike and in the end they get hosed.

But yea keep voting in those unions to "protect" your jobs.

This was in the early 90s this happened and trying to explain it to thick headed unionist is like trying to explain how a internal combustion engine works to a cocker spaniel.  

And an engine assembly facility in Texas...it is up and running.  



 

Caterpillar USED to be one of the best jobs to have in the area.

Say for a second that I was in a union, if the union decides to strike could I cross the strike and keep on a working? Death threats etc. not taken into consideration?

In a Right To Work State, yes.  But you wouldn't be union anymore (in SD anyway), plus you'd probably be buying a lot of tires and windows for your car.

The only thing you need to know is that unions consider their actions a "Victory" for them if they force a company to go out of business.

Having that mindset in the government is extremely dangerous, as can be seen in Wisconsin.

Allis Chalmers/Fiat Allis, BunnOMatic, Sangamo, Pillsbury......

On the other hand, Simplex still going strong.

Cat's building almost all of its new production facilities outside of Illinois.

And they're all non-union.  As the lines in Decatur and Peoria start to reach the end of their current lives, (IE need upgrading or the equipment needs to be replaced.) I strongly suspect that they'll close them and shift production to non-union facilities elsewhere.

If it weren't for the Tier 4 Interm and Tier 4 Final Emissions compliance deadlines coming up, they'd probably be doing that now. . . .

Yeah, that's how it was around here (Dallas OR) for years.  Three of my brothers and I
worked for the attachments division (Balderson plant) for years.  The attachments division
was non-union and supplied the UAW plants (That built prime movers) with arms, skidder
attachments and buckets.

We time studied everything and when my brother Dave and I (Who were running the 1,000
ton Cincy on different shifts) reduced the time on a 5130 mold board (The part of a bucket
that starts out as a flat piece of plate [about the size of a large bathroom]) from the UAW's
Wemego plant's 16 man hrs (2 guys for an entire shift) to OUR plant's rate of 2.75 man hrs
the UAW descended on us like Satan's minions (They thought we were bullshitting the time
studies).

When we showed them that we WEREN'T (And that one guy, with a properly set-up roll case,
crane, shimmed press, a couple of cheap Harbor Freight lasers and a fuckin' CLUE) and that we
COULD get one out in under three hours (Instead of the 16 that the UAW was claiming) they hit us
with an OSHA visit because...(According to them) we MUST be violating workplace safety rules.

My Bro' and I formed hundreds of 5130 MB's over the years and somehow managed to avoid killing
ourselves (I DID get a nasty pinch once though using the wrong clamp on some Hardox)

Come to Oklahoma!

 

I think your wrong , but it is interesting to note who was runnin the union there in those days, lol.

Good news in this house tonight.

?

Some non-union family members were not looking forward to having to go out to the shop to work.

Lots of families get ripped up in the strike because people get sent to different factories all over the state and have to live in hotels away from their kids and shit.

Yeah back when the Execs had respect for their employees and cared about their union and non-union workers and everyone felt like their future and the companies future was tied together as one. Now thats not the case and it came from the top down.

Oh I gotcha now I figured maybe you had some additional news.

How many bends in that flat?  Never worked with hardox, I assume it is something like ar?

they have done enough damage to this and all the other companies I am happy they will move to a state where they fro one can not be ass f...... by the Unions

New super CAT factory now on-line in Seguin, Texas, ie: right-to-work state.
They are about to build a new motor line there now.

"Union members also will receive $3,000 cash bonuses for ratifying the agreement, which was endorsed by the union's central bargaining committee."

It's actually $7000 over the first two years and that's all we got.
They dangled a carrot and the rank and file bit.
The UAW didn't bribe anyone, they don't have the power any longer to butt heads with Corporate America and win.
UAW is weak and getting weaker, the bargaining commitee was an insult, Cat had the upper hand the whole time and knew it.
Pretty subdued on the floor last night.
So,,,,how much does Cat pay non union in Seguien?? What are the benefits? Fuck it, I might move back to Texas.
I don't want to lose this job and go to work for $10-$12 an hour 'cause that's what all the other shithole non-union shops around here pay.
I have a DEEGREE in production manufacturing principles and it doesn't mean doodly squat.

Execs probably stopped caring about union employees when unions started throwing bricks through their living room windows, or coming to their houses over xmas and "caroling".



I don't think there's anyone in upper management of any large company that doesn't take the responsibility of making sure the company and all of the employees/family members are successful seriously.





 

UAW members account for just under 10% of Caterpillars global workforce (and about 20% of their US workforce).

 

Go to management and see what they can do for you....tell them you want out of the union but to stay with the company.

The contract prevents plant closures, it doesn't prevent plant reductions in workforce or removal of certain machining centers, weld stations, grinding cells, etc.
66.5 Mil is a drop in the bucket for Caterpillar, doesn't affect their bottom line in one little bit, watch the stock today.

Anybody got an inside line on hiring at the new distribution center in Clayton Ohio right off I-70..

Do they pay decent wage for distribution/parts center work..  I am an automotive tech looking to get out of car business and move to something more stable paywise to support myself and family.  It would be a lot closer than my current daily drive

maybe but I sincerely doubt it. When Sikorsky went on strike several years back, the salaried employees tried to take over production and it was a clusterfuck. IIRC, not a single helicopter was built and a lot of the parts had to be redone when the normal employees came back. I mean, lets be honest: there is some special skills and knowledge that go into building complex machines that a desk jockey isn't going to know right off the bat (not that they couldn't be trained after some time)