"Caterpillar took the (Harper) tax cut, locked out its London workers, then shut the plant altogether to export their jobs"
Caterpillar’s decision to close its plant in London, Ontario, throwing over 400 workers out of work is a powerful indictment of the Harper government’s economic agenda. A hugely profitable company, Caterpillar benefited from millions of dollars in Harper government tax giveaways. But instead of investing in its Canadian operations, Caterpillar chose to provoke a conflict with its Canadian workforce demanding outrageous salary cuts that it knew would be rejected. In the end, Caterpillar took the tax breaks and then shipped out the jobs, all with the able assistance of the Harper Tories.
Brian Topp
"Caterpillar took the tax cut, locked out its London workers, then shut the plant altogether to export their jobs to the US. Shame. To London's Caterpillar workers: I visited you in January with my solidarity and you still have it today. Don't give up the fight!"
Thomas Mulcair
"Eight days ago, Caterpillar reported record annual profit of $4.9-billion (U.S.), an 83-per-cent increase from $2.7-billion in 2010. That came from record sales of $60.1-billion for one of the signature companies of Corporate America.
Those kinds of increases had not been seen since the post-Second World War boom days of Harry Truman’s presidency from 1945 to 1952, Caterpillar’s investor relations director Mike DeWalt told investors on a conference call last week."
-Globe & Mail
MUNCIE, Ind.—"Bulldozing its way through a high-profile dispute over wages, Caterpillar Inc. said Friday it will close a 62-year-old plant in London, Ontario, that makes railroad locomotives, eliminating about 450 manufacturing jobs that mostly paid twice the rate of a U.S. counterpart.
Caterpillar's decision, ending a standoff with locked-out workers huddled around barrels of burning scrap wood outside the London factory gates, may benefit another downtrodden manufacturing city: Muncie, Ind., where Caterpillar last year opened a locomotive plant and where it is trying to fill jobs at about half the pay workers in Ontario received."
-Wall Street Journal.com
Brian Topp
"Caterpillar took the tax cut, locked out its London workers, then shut the plant altogether to export their jobs to the US. Shame. To London's Caterpillar workers: I visited you in January with my solidarity and you still have it today. Don't give up the fight!"
Thomas Mulcair
"Eight days ago, Caterpillar reported record annual profit of $4.9-billion (U.S.), an 83-per-cent increase from $2.7-billion in 2010. That came from record sales of $60.1-billion for one of the signature companies of Corporate America.
Those kinds of increases had not been seen since the post-Second World War boom days of Harry Truman’s presidency from 1945 to 1952, Caterpillar’s investor relations director Mike DeWalt told investors on a conference call last week."
-Globe & Mail
MUNCIE, Ind.—"Bulldozing its way through a high-profile dispute over wages, Caterpillar Inc. said Friday it will close a 62-year-old plant in London, Ontario, that makes railroad locomotives, eliminating about 450 manufacturing jobs that mostly paid twice the rate of a U.S. counterpart.
Caterpillar's decision, ending a standoff with locked-out workers huddled around barrels of burning scrap wood outside the London factory gates, may benefit another downtrodden manufacturing city: Muncie, Ind., where Caterpillar last year opened a locomotive plant and where it is trying to fill jobs at about half the pay workers in Ontario received."
-Wall Street Journal.com
I may be way off base and it may be impossible, but unions have to globalize. If corporations are globalized, so should unions. Workers at all plants of the same company have to stand together. This is what corporations are thriving on, the fact that every worker will look out for themselves, even if that means that their brothers/sisters are being threatened elsewhere. We start with North American brothers standing together then we go global.
Posted by
Vahan |
10:57 am, February 05, 2012