Strike Averted at Caterpillar Tractor Plants

Negotiators for Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers union averted a strike by 17,000 workers in four states by agreeing Saturday to an indefinite contract extension.

The two sides took 30 minutes to agree to extend the contract and scheduled another meeting for Tuesday in Bloomington, Ill.

UAW representatives said the extension will allow the union to focus on talks with Deere & Co., a leading farm machinery maker that has been negotiating with the union for three weeks.

The UAW’s contracts with both firms expire at midnight Monday.

Workers for both companies have authorized strikes, and the threat of a strike against Caterpillar is not over. Either side can cancel the contract extension with five days’ notice, negotiators said.

Caterpillar, a leading maker of earth-moving equipment, has asked its union employees to start paying some health-care costs.

The company wants to eliminate cost-of-living increases when inflation is 4% or less, and wants wage increases only for the top four skill levels, leaving out 3,700 blue-collar workers.

The Caterpillar talks affect about 17,000 factory workers in Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. The Deere negotiations affect 13,000 UAW employees in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Georgia, Colorado and Kansas.