The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXXXIII

Just three days after United Steelworkers Local 1343 and Caterpillar worked out a contract, Caterpillar decides to pull the rug out from underneath the workers:

Employees at Caterpillar’s South Milwaukee plant were notified today
that planned layoffs of 260 employees would go into effect on Monday, June 24.

The notification comes three days after a new, six-year pact was ratified by the members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1343.

As it stands, close to a third of the plant’s 800 employees will be placed on “indefinite layoff,” according to the company.

[...]

The statement from Caterpillar also says that a “vast majority of the South Milwaukee Manufacturing facility, including support and management employees” will be affected by two new, one-week temporary layoffs that were instituted with the new contract.

“The company can do temporary layoffs up to 10 weeks per year,” said Winklbauer. “The people that will be affected on the one week temporary layoffs will be eligible for $170 per week plus supplemental unemployment during the temporary layoff period.”

The company said that the layoffs stem from a downturn in the mining industry, showing that the haste of Scott Walker and the Teapublicans was nothing more than a giveaway to more of their corporate overlords. The mining bill had as much to do with creating jobs as did the reprehensible legalized sexual abuse bill they just passed.

The company did announce three months ago that they were going to lay these workers off.

I find the timing of all of this rather suspect.  The company knew three months in advance that there would be no more orders and they would have to lay off one third of their work force?

Oh, and pay no mind that the lay off just so happens to be timed to be about the time that AB 219, the bill that makes it harder to collect unemployment compensation was rammed through the legislature.

If I had the ear of the leadership of Local 1343, I would advise them to start looking for some collusion between Caterpillar and key state legislators.  I would also advise them to keep an eye open for recently trained scabs to start showing up.

I would say that there is more than a good chance that Caterpillar was bargaining in bad faith, knowing that the Republicans were going to help them with their vulture capitalism.

The Walker Agenda Is Still Working! Part CLXX

Remember how Scott Walker and his ilk told us that the mining bill would create shovel ready jobs, not just for the good people in Northern Wisconsin, but for people in Milwaukee, like the workers at the Caterpillar plant?

Yeah, neither do they:

Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc. is planning to lay off 250 to 300 employees in South Milwaukee by June.

“Short-term layoffs and other actions will be taking place,” Caterpillar spokesman Rusty Dunn told BizTimes. “We are not getting into specific numbers, as we continue to evaluate the situation given the fluctuating economic and business environment. Various Caterpillar facilities and business units are taking action to bring our production in line with demand, including our operations in South Milwaukee. This includes some short-term temporary layoffs and other actions. These actions vary from location to location and impact both production and support and management employees. We know this is difficult for our employees, but we are taking steps to better align with the current economic circumstances, while at the same time remain focused on positioning the company for long-term success."

Ross Winklbauer, United Steelworkers union sub-district director of District 4, received word of the layoffs from union president Kevin Jaskie, who was present for the company announcement.

The union is unsure if layoffs will affect only union staff or both union members and management staff.

The union also remains uncertain about whether the layoffs will be temporary cuts or permanent dismissals, Winklbauer said.

But there is a lot that is suspect about this news.

The company failed to notify the state, as is required by law.

The company failed to notify South Milwaukee about this.

The company is claiming that it is due to low sales, but never mentioned this to the union or anyone else. Maybe not so coincidentally, the company is supposed to enter into formal negotiations with the union next week for a new contract. Also maybe not so coincidentally, the company has also been trying to get scabs trained at MATC - y'know, in case there is a strike or something.

Yeah, I smell a scabby rat here.  Or should I say, a scabby cat?