Deeply concerning news from the Wall Street Journal …
Caterpillar Inc., after prevailing in battles with unions in Illinois and Ontario last year, is preparing for the possibility of a strike at a mining-equipment plant in South Milwaukee, Wis.
Caterpillar, the world’s biggest maker of construction and mining equipment, is training managerial and support staff for production jobs at the South Milwaukee plant, which makes large shovels used in mining, a company spokesman said. The Peoria, Ill.-based company is due to begin talks soon with officials of the United Steelworkers union, which represents about 800 workers at the plant. The USW labor contract at the plant expires April 30.
The Caterpillar spokesman said the preparations were part of the “normal workforce contingency training process that we have been using since the early 2000s prior to labor negotiations.” But some USW officials saw the training as a warning to unionized workers that the company was prepared to keep producing even if they strike.
“We’re going to be very well prepared” for the negotiations, said Gary Hubbard, a spokesman of the USW in Washington. He described the union as both “tough” and “sophisticated” and said the USW “can help Caterpillar succeed.”
See the whole story here … and post your comments below!
I’ll keep you posted.
South Milwaukee Blog 
This is a completely normal process that any company goes through to prepare for the possibility of a strike. I’ve gone through this 3 times in 13 years at the place I work. It’s almost comical that union officials have a problem that a company would want to stay in business instead of shutting down operations – that there’s no way they could keep running without their invaluable union workforce. No one should ever underestimate the mentality of union LEADERS – not necessarily the workers – to ruin the company that pays their member’s wages and benefits. Not saying that there’s ever been a company that doesn’t have their employees’ best interests in mind but most unions have long outlived their usefulness and are just there to line the pockets of the leadership.
Randy: I think there is some rightful concern about a potential strike given what happened in Peoria last year …
http://www.pjstar.com/opinions/ourview/x186674000/Our-View-Twenty-years-later-is-pattern-bargaining-back-with-a-twist?zc_p=0
I respectfully disagree with you on the value of unions. I’m on record — and I believe as strongly as ever — that unions provide an invaluable, and irreplaceable, voice for the worker. I’ve lived this truth while working in union environments, and I’ve seen it first-hand as close family members have been helped by their unions.
Now, do I think there are unions out there that don’t fulfill this promise? Absolutely. Do I agree with all union tactics and activities? Of course not. Sometimes unions are their own worst enemy. But that doesn’t diminish their importance in my mind.
I’ll also say this: The union-employer relationship provides its most value when it’s a true partnership: front-line workers and management working together to improve the work environment and the products or services they produce. Let’s hope the Caterpillar-local union relationship is like this. I’ve seen plenty of the alternative — adversarial relationships between unions and employers — and that doesn’t work for anyone.
Erik,
If you were describing union/company relationships more than a century ago I’d generally agree with you. The history of worker abuse then is well documented.
Long ago many unions turned into quasi-socialist organizations bent on demonizing the profits of the companies they worked for – profits that paid for the ever larger wages and benefits they received. Many bemoan the loss of jobs to Mexico and overseas but a good deal of it was the ever-increasing demands of unions.
I am not saying that ALL unions are this way but the actions of the many union members in Madison the last couple of years is a great example of how irrational they can become when asked for reasonable compromise. When most others have had to take pay and benefits cuts and or freezes why do they think that they should be exempt?
I’m not wanting to paint with such a broad brush but actions on display, both here in WI as well as nationally, pretty much speak for themselves.
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