Article content
(Adds Caterpillar’s statement)
March 1 (Reuters) –
Article content
Construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc said on Wednesday it reached a tentative six-year labor agreement with a union that represents workers at its four facilities, possibly fending off a strike.
Union workers had threatened to strike for wage increases, improved safety measures and better healthcare benefits once the existing six-year labor contract expires.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) said its negotiating team had reached the tentative agreement before the contract ends on March 1.
Advertisement 2
Article content
“Members at four locals in Illinois and Pennsylvania will review the tentative agreement and vote at upcoming ratification meetings,” the UAW said in a statement, without giving any other details.
The UAW will schedule a ratification vote soon, Caterpillar said in a statement.
“The current agreement will be extended until the voting is complete,” the company added.
The contract covers roughly 7,000 union employees represented by the UAW at three manufacturing plants in central Illinois and a parts and distribution center in York, Pennsylvania.
A shortage of labor in a robust demand environment has raised costs for heavy machinery companies like Caterpillar and rival Deere & Co and has given unions the leg-up to negotiate better contracts.
Advertisement 3
Article content
In January, union workers at the four Caterpillar facilities voted almost unanimously to authorize a strike, according to one local union’s Facebook page.
Contract negotiations between the UAW and the Irving, Texas-based manufacturer began on Jan. 5, the company said.
Caterpillar has more than 100,000 employees worldwide. In 2021, workers at two plants in Northern Ireland went on strike for 14 months before reaching an agreement. The last strike at the company in the U.S. was in May 2012. (Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsAzi is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation