LABOR

Talks Between Caterpillar, UAW Collapse: Negotiations broke down between Caterpillar Inc. and the United Auto Workers, with no progress reported and the union threatening a strike by 14,000 workers tonight. “We tried, we honestly tried to avert the strike deadline,” UAW Secretary-Treasurer Bill Casstevens said. The strike would close Caterpillar factories in Illinois, Memphis, Denver and York, Pa. Caterpillar Vice President Wayne Zimmerman said the union won’t budge on its ultimatum to strike unless the company reinstates 14 fired union members. The firings are among 90 unfair-labor-practice complaints that are being pursued by the National Labor Relations Board.