CATERPILLAR
New contract benefits active, retired workers
The year-long contract negotiations with Caterpillar were about more than money. They were also about promises made years ago to more than 20,000 now-retired Caterpillar workers who made the heavy-equipment giant the success it is today.
The UAW’s Caterpillar Central Bargaining Committee faced quite a dilemma: how to win a good contract for 9,000 active workers while keeping the faith with the retirees.
The new agreement represents significant improvements over Caterpillar’s “last, best, final offer,” benefiting every group of active employees in health care and income security. Current retirees paying a premium saw those premiums reduced by more than half. Coupled with pension increases and improving employment levels in UAW-represented Caterpillar facilities, the agreement was unanimously recommended by the Central Bargaining Committee.
UAW Vice President Cal Rapson, who directs the union’s Agricultural Implement Department, thanked Caterpillar members and retirees for their solidarity. The active workers are represented by seven UAW locals: Local 974, East Peoria, Ill.; Local 751, Decatur, Ill.; Local 2096, Pontiac, Ill.; Local 145, Montgomery, Ill.; Local 786, York, Pa.; Local 1415, Denver, and Local 1989, Memphis.
