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Showing Original Post only (View all)Electro-Motive plant shut by U.S. owner [View all]
The company that owns the locked-out Electro-Motive plant in London, Ont., has decided to close the plant permanently.
Progress Rail Services Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. construction equipment conglomerate Caterpillar, announced "it is regrettable that it has become necessary to close production operations at the London facility," in a release on Friday.
The company locked out 450 workers from the facility on Jan. 1. Costs were the main factor in the dispute, with the company pushing certain employees to take a 50 per cent pay cut.
Progress Rail Services Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. construction equipment conglomerate Caterpillar, announced "it is regrettable that it has become necessary to close production operations at the London facility," in a release on Friday.
The company locked out 450 workers from the facility on Jan. 1. Costs were the main factor in the dispute, with the company pushing certain employees to take a 50 per cent pay cut.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/02/03/electro-motive-plant-london-close.html
You might remember that this is Caterpillar, who wanted to slash unionized wages by 50%. The union said |Hell, NO| and drew their line in the sand.
So Caterpillar closed the factory and is moving the jobs to Muncie, Indiana, where the wages will be LESS than half.
Oh, and did I mention that Caterpillar is one of the most PROFITABLE corporations in the world right now, with over a billion dollars earnings in the past 3 months?
I heard a radio interview with an economist who said "Caterpillar hates unions more than they hate profits"
And yes, that's Stephen Harper, our glorious leader in 2008, announcing a $5 million TAX BREAK for Caterpillar when the plant was taken over by Caterpillar.
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Strange - most people on DU always seem to want US companies to build in the US
dmallind
Feb 2012
#28
I agree, as much as I hope OWS achieves it's goals. Its going to take more than nonviolence.
Katashi_itto
Feb 2012
#26
Had not followed the EMD's for quite some time used to be known as Electro-Motive Division of GM.
sce56
Feb 2012
#10
My question is while caterpillar might be earning profits how was this specific plant doing?
cstanleytech
Feb 2012
#14
I agree with you that there is an issue with the companies not being paying most of the workers a
cstanleytech
Feb 2012
#21
The Progress Rail susidiary of Cat bought EMD as a whole from the private equity group
FarCenter
Feb 2012
#22