Category Archives: Caterpillar

Caterpillar’s Bay View welding operation, called an “overflow plant” for Caterpillar, employs about 60 to 70 workers.

From the Milwaukee Business Journal story …

Caterpillar Inc. will discontinue welding operations at its small Milwaukee facility and shift the work to its South Milwaukee factory, the company said in an email Thursday.

Caterpillar said the decision is not expected to result in additional job cuts beyond the previously announced indefinite layoffs of 260 production workers at the South Milwaukee plant due to weakness in the mining sector.

Peoria, Ill.-based equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) has its global mining equipment headquarters in Oak Creek.

Caterpillar’s Milwaukee welding operations are located within the Chase Commerce Center, 3073 S. Chase Ave., in the Bay View neighborhood.

“Due to current business conditions and demand for products made in the Milwaukee area, Caterpillar has informed its employees that it will consolidate welding work now conducted in the Milwaukee facility with similar welding work conducted in South Milwaukee,” Caterpillar said in an emailed statement to The Business Journal. “As we move forward this year, the company will conduct an orderly transition of the work from the Milwaukee location to South Milwaukee.”

Here is Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage.

A day after United Steelworkers in South Milwaukee agreed to a new six-year deal with Caterpillar, reaction and details are coming in.

Check out coverage in the Business Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wall Street Journal.

From the Business Journal …

Cheryl Maranto, Marquette University associate professor of management, was unsurprised it was a close vote, considering United Steelworkers Local 1343 made deeper concessions than the company.

“I think the fact that the company was willing to at least provide a few concessions was an important signal that it wasn’t just, ‘We have the power, we’re going to slam it down your throats,’” Maranto told me. “I still think it was probably a pretty bitter pill for workers to swallow, but I think the company was smart in giving enough to allow the union to save face and to enable them to kind of move on.” … 

Caterpillar called it a “fair, reasonable and comprehensive agreement.”

This marked the first contract negotiation between the local union and Caterpillar since it acquired the former Bucyrus International Inc. for $8.8 billion in 2011. Caterpillar has a reputation for tough negotiations with its unionized factories.

“This would be a bad Bucyrus contract, but it’s one of the better Caterpillar contracts we’ve seen,” Winklbauer told me.

Also, the Business Journal is reporting the contract includes a provision not allowing Caterpillar to use temporary workers in South Milwaukee — “a significant win” for employees.

And the Winston-Salem Journal has a story on the Caterpillar annual meeting in North Carolina, including comments from the CEO.

United Steelworkers at the South Milwaukee Caterpillar plant have approved a new six-year contract that reportedly freezes wages and pensions but offers a signing bonus.

Check out coverage in the following …

• Milwaukee Business Journal
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• Chicago Tribune

And here is information from Caterpillar’s negotiations website.

The United Steelworkers and Caterpillar have tentatively agreed to a contract for workers at the South Milwaukee plant.

That’s according to various reports and the labor negotiations update website. A union ratification vote is set for June 11.

You will recall that the Steelworkers voted down the last six-year deal earlier this month. We’ll see if things are different this time around.

Check out coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal.

I’ll keep you posted.

So reports the Chicago Tribune …

Well, that’s some good news. At least they’re talking.

Various media outlets are reporting that negotiations between Caterpillar and the United Steelworkers will resume Thursday.

Let’s hope there is progress.

Check out coverage in BizTimes.com, The Business Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wall Street Journal.

And check out Caterpillar’s “2013 Milwaukee Negotiations” website, which includes details on the previous contract offered and other updates.

Business Week has an interesting profile of Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman, as the labor dispute in South Milwaukee continues.

Among the comments: “We can never make enough profit.” From it:

After walking through the Peoria factory, Oberhelman takes off his safety glasses and sits down to eat his low-carb lunch: turkey wrapped in lettuce. He talks about his upbringing in Illinois and his career at Caterpillar. He lists his hobbies (hunting, “outdoors things”). Then comes the difficult question: Why is Caterpillar fighting its workers over wages? Oberhelman nods briskly, eager to put the issue to rest.

“We have to be competitive if we’re gonna win. And frankly, if we’re not competitive … we’re not gonna be here in the next 30 years. That’s a simple message, but”—he starts to hammer his hand against the table, punctuating his words with raps—“it’s very  … very … tough.” After a pause, he lets his hand lay flat.

“I always try to communicate to our people that we can never make enough money,” Oberhelman continues. “We can never make enough profit.” 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an interesting piece comparing the ongoing Caterpillar labor talks in South Milwaukee with the contentious ones last year in Joliet, Ill.

It’s an interesting read that provides an in-depth look at the hard stance Caterpillar takes in union negotiations — a stance the company has obviously adopted here.

From the article …

To see how strained labor relations could be at Caterpillar Inc. in South Milwaukee, you need look no further than Joliet, Ill., where the company faced a strike in 2012 that lasted nearly four months and might have set the stage for the current labor dispute here.

Local 851 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers demanded cost-of-living pay increases and lower health care premiums for nearly 800 Caterpillar employees in Joliet, and asked the company to honor seniority rights.

After rejecting two contract offers and going on strike, they received: a wage freeze for workers hired before 2005, the elimination of pensions, doubled health care premiums, and fewer seniority rights.

Fast forward to today, and Caterpillar is in a standoff with Local 1343 of the United Steelworkers International that represents more than 800 employees at the company’s plant in South Milwaukee.

Last Tuesday, union members voted down a proposed contract that called for a six-year wage freeze and lower wages for new hires. It also would have given the company more flexibility in making temporary layoffs, up to 14 weeks per employee per year.

Contract negotiations are scheduled to resume Wednesday.

The resumption of talks comes as Caterpillar prepares to cut more jobs in North America.

First, it’s laying off another 300 people in Decatur, Ill., and it’s closing another facility — this one in Canada. More than 300 people will be without jobs there, according to CBC News.

Update: Business Journal coverage has a statement from the union. And here is a story from the Chicago Tribune. Also, check out stories from the Wall Street Journal, BizTimes.com and Fox 6.

Here is the news from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. From the story …

The union representing about 800 employees at the Caterpillar Inc. factory in South Milwaukee has voted down a proposed six-year labor contract that would have frozen wages but provided additional protection against permanent job losses.

Members of United Steelworkers Local 1343 rejected the contract that, among other things, would have resulted in lower wages for new hires and increased health insurance costs for some employees.

Despite turning down the proposed contract, union officials said, the membership will return to work and will resume negotiations with Caterpillar for a new contract.

So, what does this all mean? Is a strike looming? A lockout? I hope not. That would be good for no one — including South Milwaukee as a whole.

I’ll keep you posted … and post your comments below.