Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310073
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BLOOMINGTON, ILL. LENGTH: Medium
Both sides were silent about progress, as they were after a meeting Tuesday.
Past sessions with federal mediators ended quickly, often amid leaks and recriminations. But new union leadership has brought fresh talks and a new approach: face-to-face bargaining with no public comments.
The UAW has not had a contract with Caterpillar - the world leader in heavy equipment - since September 1991. The union went on strike when that contract expired. But the strike ended when Caterpillar threatened to hire replacements.
The current strike began June 20, 1994. The union complains that Caterpillar has violated federal labor laws. In a strike over unfair labor practices, strikers cannot be replaced.
More than 13,000 UAW members in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Colorado could participate in the strike, but the company says at least 4,000 have gone back to work and helped Caterpillar produce record profits.
Although the union says it is striking over unfair labor practices by management, a contract dispute led to the feud. Caterpillar has proposed changes in health care, job security and schedules, plus a two-level wage system.
Past bargaining attempts collapsed with the company complaining that the UAW would not produce a detailed, updated contract proposal.
``I'm hopeful,'' said Neil Bernstein, a former labor mediator and a law professor at Washington University, of the new approach. ``It does seem to indicate that they're at the place they should have been four years ago.''
The lack of a mediator is ``troubling,'' Bernstein said, but he added that mediators have not accomplished much at past meetings.
Mediators often act as go-betweens, shuttling messages between the two sides, but Caterpillar and the UAW may have decided they prefer to bargain directly, he said.
by CNB