Caterpillar Announces Plant Closure

03/21/96

United Press International reported that Caterpillar announced plans to close down its Precision Barstock Products business unit in York, Pennsylvania. The Plant employs 1,100 workers. Caterpillar will begin the shutdown in the next few weeks, but will take two to three years to complete it. Caterpillar laid the blame for the shutdown at the feet of workers and timed their announcemnet to coincide with UAW Local 696's strike in Dayton, Ohio.

In announcing the shutdown the company said "Caterpillar has made contract offers to the UAW that, had union members accepted them, would have provided the conditions and commitments...needed for the company to keep the plant open."

Richard Shoemaker, vice President of the UAW, said, "The company's announcement and previous statements are clearly designed to try to make the UAW members a scapegoat for Caterpillar's decision."

Shoemaker corrected the record by remarking that it had been Caterpillar who was unwilling to negotiate a settlement, as they refused to bargain beyond the terms of their proposal. UAW-Caterpillar membership (including workers of Local 786, the plant Caterpillar is closing) rejected the proposal overwhelmingly. Shoemaker pointed out that the rejected offer was unreasonable in the first place because, among other regressive maneuvers, the company proposed to gut cost-of-living protections, to eliminate certain benefits entirely while cutting others by 50 percent, and to impose multi-tier wages on newly hired and recalled workers.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel