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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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042092
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04209913.000
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1992-09-10
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THE WEEK, Page 32BUSINESSShowdown on Labor's Front Line
The Caterpillar strike could make or break a powerful union
It is billed as the most important showdown between management
and labor in this country since Ronald Reagan crippled the
air-traffic-controllers union 11 years ago. But the situation
in Peoria, Ill., involving the leadership of Caterpillar Inc.
and the United Auto Workers is really all about pain.
At issue are the jobs of 13,000 striking workers caught in
the middle of a fight between the 900,000-member U.A.W. and
Caterpillar, the world's largest construction-machinery
manufacturer. Many strikers have been out of work for five
months and are having a hard time supporting their families on
benefits of $100 a week. But when Caterpillar chairman Donald
Fites warned them to return to work last Monday or lose their
jobs to permanent replacements, all but about 400 obeyed the
union call to disregard the company ultimatum. The company began
advertising in area newspapers last Monday for new applicants.
A special Caterpillar telephone number installed to handle
requests about job information received 56,000 attempted calls
in one three-hour period.
The fight revolves around union demands that Caterpillar
match the terms offered U.A.W. members by Deere & Co., the
Illinois farm-equipment manufacturer, including higher wages and
broader health benefits. Caterpillar says it cannot afford to
grant those terms because of the brutal competition it faces
from abroad.
A U.A.W. loss would erode its future bargaining power. A
Caterpillar loss would reduce its profit margin against foreign
competition. Either way, it's difficult to imagine a happy
ending to this story.