BY ANGEL LARISCY
PEORIA, Illinois - For the first time in seven years members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) will vote on a new contract with Caterpillar Inc.
On November 28 representatives of the company presented union officials with a new written proposal here. The UAW announced that Local 974 in East Peoria will meet to discuss and vote on the offer December 3. Locals in Aurora, Pontiac, and Decatur, Illinois, as well as York, Pennsylvania, will also vote on December 2 or 3. The UAW leadership has released no official details of the proposed contract.
Some 9,000 members of the UAW have been on strike against Caterpillar for more than 17 months, and without a contract for over four years. The company has been running its plants with union members who crossed picket lines, office and management personnel, and temporary and permanent replacements.
While the company has boasted of record profits throughout the current labor dispute in every quarter except the last, it has faced a determined union membership that has refused to give up its fight.
In addition, Caterpillar has faced criticism and problems in the business community. Last week in U.S. District Court in Peoria, two people filed suit against Caterpillar and 13 of its vice presidents accusing the company officials of withholding information to inflate stock prices and then selling off the bloated stocks before their value fell sharply.
Nathaniel Baratz and Jannette Zigaldo contend that Caterpillar engaged in "fraud" and "deceit" against all those who bought its stock between July 18 and October 17 by not informing them that production was cut early in the third quarter. They also note that the 13 vice presidents cited sold 35,000 shares in that period for $2.4 million, reflecting record-high prices. Baratz and Zigaldo are seeking class-action status, meaning thousands could join the suit.
The local and national big-business press rumor the proposed contract will be a six-year deal with two-tier wages, less choice on health-care plans, and flexible schedules that can allow the company to set work hours on the weekends without paying overtime. The Chicago Tribune ran the headline "Was strike worth it? Will anger fade?"
But most strikers are refusing to talk to the press about rumors and say they will wait until union officials present the offer to them.
In a letter to the editor of the Peoria Journal Star printed on November 26, Gary Romans of East Peoria summed up the sentiment of the majority of strikers who say that the company finally negotiated a contract only because of the workers' willingness to fight.
"Many people wonder, `Did the union win?' " Romans said. "I do know that the union survived.... What with a whirlwind P.R. campaign, a security force of mercenaries for hire and untold millions of dollars to spend, the corporate giant has been fought to a standstill.... It was done with picket lines and solidarity. And the union, despite all the overwhelming odds, was able to survive."
Angel Lariscy is a member of UAW Local 1494 in Peoria.