BY FRANK FORRESTAL AND RAY PARSONS
EAST MOLINE, Illinois - In response to company provocations, United Auto Workers (UAW) members at Case Corp. threatened to walk out at midnight April 8. "The company came out with a notice Wednesday morning saying that hourly workers would not get holiday pay for Good Friday, since there is no contract in effect," said William Baker, a machine operator with 24 years. In contrast, Baker noted that management employees would get paid holiday pay.

Another member of UAW Local 1304, who asked not to be identified, said the union set a midnight deadline for walking out over the issue. By 7 p.m. that evening Case relented, agreeing to pay for the day off as had been done in the past.

Tensions between labor and management at Case remain high as UAW members continue to work without a contract. The last agreement, covering 3,300 production workers at five plants around the Midwest, expired March 29. The union here has not been on strike since 1979. At that time the East Moline plant was part of International Harvester, and many workers still refer to the facility as "IH."

Case workers are on a strike footing, realizing that the company has every intention of playing hardball. Early in the process, Case hired Strom Engineering, a Milwaukee-based employment agency, which has placed ads for strikebreakers in newspapers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. This action rankles many workers, who watched how Caterpillar and Bridgestone/Firestone used replacement workers during long strike battles in the 1990s. "Case spokeswoman Patty Holzbauer has been quoted as saying the move was part of a routine contingency plan," reported The Dispatch, a local big-business daily. To prepare for the strike, the company has also installed a chain-link fence around the plant.

To date UAW officials in Detroit have said little about the looming battle. "As long as progress continues to be made, we want to continue the bargaining process," said UAW vice president Richard Shoemaker.

Negotiations between the UAW and Case, which began in February, are ongoing in Milwaukee. Ron Sweet, a federal mediator, has been assigned to oversee the talks. The company and the union representatives have agreed to a media blackout while negotiations continue. Workers in East Moline told the Militant April 9 that they have heard almost nothing on the status of the talks.

Despite this, the few articles that have appeared in the local press have been favorable to the union. " `Mad' is the word for Case Corp. workers who say they feel cheated by the Racine, Wisconsin-based farm equipment manufacturer," reported The Dispatch. Another headline in the same paper read: "This time, the union is right. Case big shots should give workers a fair deal."

Solidarity among the unionists in East Moline is strong, and easy to see. Many workers sport union buttons on their jackets, including one that reads, "I will serve my picket duty with UAW pride." Another states, "CASE pulls a CAT," referring to the failed attempt by Caterpillar - the world's largest maker of earth moving and construction equipment - to destroy the UAW in a bitter contract fight that began in 1991. Last month, UAW members at Caterpillar narrowly approved a contract after forcing the company to recall all 160 unionists fired for union activity over the last six and a half years. While the return of the fired workers was a key issue in the 1994-95 strike -and an important setback to Caterpillar -the contract itself contains numerous concessions, including two-tier wages and a six-year duration.

Solidarity meetings for the Local 1304 membership have been organized every Thursday since early March. Inside the plant, unionists have organized "hammers down for justice." On the hour, workers pound hammers and other tools in protest.

Support is also evident from unionists, as well as those not in unions, in the factories surrounding the plant. Many jobs in the Quad Cities (Moline, East Moline, Rock Island, and Davenport) area are tied to Case, one of the largest employers in this region. John Deere, a major competitor of Case, also has several plants in the area.

On March 6 and again on March 20, members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 310 who work at Bridgestone/Firestone rallied in downtown Des Moines to support UAW workers at Case. The actions were called to protest the Strom Engineering hiring of strike breakers for Case. Local 310 member Joan Robinson told the Militant, "We went through what they are going through. I support the Auto Workers 100 percent."

Over the years, Case has won concessions from the union. But in this round, UAW members are standing their ground. Case is demanding that workers and retirees pay more of their monthly health insurance costs. Solidarity between Case workers and pensioners is much in evidence. On March 19, 100 Case retirees held a picket line in front of the East Moline plant to protest proposed pension cuts, as well as to show solidarity for the union. Similar actions have been organized at the Burlington, Iowa, and Racine, Wisconsin, facilities.

In addition, Case is seeking lower piece-work wage rates resulting in lower pay for UAW workers and increased mandatory overtime. They plan to weaken seniority rights. A 75-month contract is being proposed, almost twice the length of the previous contract of 38 months. Both Caterpillar and John Deere have six-year agreements.

"That's way too long," said one unionist outside the Local 1304 hall. He added that the contract signed earlier this year between the UAW and John Deere, "really sets us back." At John Deere the agreement imposes a deep two-tier wage set up for new hires, whose pay never rises to the top level of existing employees.

Case's proposals are not popular. "We're mad. We've got kicked in the teeth," said UAW member John Kincey. Other workers compared Case's offer to "slavery," according to one local newspaper.

The Case Corporation is an international producer of construction and agricultural equipment. The Burlington, Iowa, plant is billed as the "back hoe capital of the world," and in East Moline combines and cotton pickers are made.

According to corporate financial reports for 1997, the company has seen increased sales, especially in Latin America and Europe. Large sales of agricultural equipment were made in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine, republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. In 1997 Case made a record $403 million profit on revenues of $6 billion.

In a related development, 1,500 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union at Oscar Meyer Foods Corp. in Davenport, Iowa, across the Mississippi River from East Moline, rejected a proposed contract April 7. The agreement offered increased wages of only 75 cents per hour over the life of the 42-month pact.

The union membership voted 96 percent in favor of authorizing a strike April 9, but the company and union have agreed to resume negotiations for the time being. In 1979 the union waged a six-month strike against the meatpacking company.

Ray Parsons is a member of USWA Local 310 in Iowa.  
 
 
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