PEORIA (dpa-AFX) - Mining equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) has Thursday reached a tentative agreement on a new six-year labor contract with the United Steelworkers or USW, union. The contract covers 803 USW-represented hourly workers at the company's plant in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where large mining equipment is assembled.
The terms of the new tentative agreement will now be reviewed by the USW Union members on June 9, and put to vote on June 11 for the members to ratify it. Meanwhile, The seven member negotiating committee for Local 1343 of USW has unanimously recommended for ratification of the agreement.
The negotiations for the contract gained strength after 34 representatives from the IndustriALL Global Union Caterpillar Trade Union Network last week shot off a letter to Caterpillar CEO Douglas Oberhelman expressing solidarity with the Steelworkers. It also urged the management to negotiate in good faith with the USW to reach a fair agreement.
The negotiations also got the backing of Union leaders from Caterpillar locations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia that represent thousands of the company's employees. They met in Esher, U.K. earlier in the week to share information and build solidarity between workers.
On April 30, the members of Local 1343 of USW had rejected a proposed 6-year labor agreement and said the union will resume negotiations with Caterpillar for a new contract.
The initially proposed new contract did not incorporate wage increases for existing employees, and lowered the wage scale for new hires. It also altered pension benefits, and allowed managers to disregard seniority when selecting workers for layoffs.
The old contract expired on April 30, but the members of USW Local 1343 decided to continue to work under the old terms and conditions, rather than calling for a strike, while negotiations go on with Caterpillar.
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.
CAT closed Thursday's regular trading session at $86.41, down $0.08 or 0.09% on a volume of 3.57 million shares.
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