Caterpillar closing part of a coordinated attack on unions [View all]

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http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1125920--walkom-caterpillar-closing-part-of-a-coordinated-attack-on-unions?bn=1

The timing of Caterpillar Inc.’s decision to close its locked-out London locomotive plant was no accident.

On Wednesday, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a so-called right-to-work bill making his state the first in the U.S. industrial north to directly take on private-sector unions.

Two days later, Caterpillar — which is based in next-door Illinois — closed its unionized London plant.

Since it locked out 460 Canadian workers in January, the giant U.S. firm had made little secret of its intent to move their jobs to Muncie, Indiana.

All it was waiting for, apparently, was a signal that the state government there was serious about crippling trade unions.

The London plant closing is not an isolated event. It is part of a coordinated attack across North America on unions and wages.

The fight against "right-to-work" laws is a fight against the 1%. Caterpillar is claiming that the higher wages in Canada are forcing it to move. This isn't true.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/ofl-president-harper-sits-back-while-caterpillar-robber-barons-close-london-plant-move-1615008.htm

OFL President: "Harper Sits Back While Caterpillar Robber Barons Close London Plant and Move Jobs South of the Border"

Electro-Motive Diesel was acquired for $820 million in 2010 by Progress Rail Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. Since then, Caterpillar built up its locomotive manufacturing capacity in Munsie, Indiana, where they have received millions of dollars in state aid and pay their workers nominal wages for skilled labour. Electro-Motive Diesel locked out members of CAW Local 27 in London on New Year's Day, after demanding dramatic concessions to wages and benefits, including a 50 percent cut that would drop wages for some workers from $35 to $16.50 an hour. While the company has attempted to blame Canadian workers and an "unsustainable cost structure" for its decision to relocate, this move comes in a year in which production was up by 20 percent and Caterpillar boasted a $4.9 billion profit, the highest in its 86-year history.