ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050071
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PEORIA, ILL.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Strikers who lost a bitter 17-month battle against Caterpillar Inc. waited with resignation Monday for the company to call them back to jobs now being done by replacement hires and union defectors.
The company, meanwhile, sought assurances that the workers' offer to return, despite overwhelming votes against proposed contracts, ``was made in good faith and is truly unconditional.''
Caterpillar, the nation's largest maker of heavy and earth-moving equipment, promised all strikers eventually will be offered jobs, but has told them to stay away until it sorts out who is needed where. The company hired 1,100 people during the strike and used about 5,600 temporary workers.
Union officials offered no explanation for their decision to call off the strike, but Caterpillar has been able to set record profits despite the strike.
``I think the company's in complete control,'' striker Jim Schmidt said. ``We have to accept defeat.''
At the Volvo GM Heavy Truck plant in Dublin, Jeffrey Walke, vice president of the United Auto Workers local, said: "Our jobs involve a great deal of technical know-how and long-term experience. If the public feels the replacement workers don't have that experience, they might think the quality of the product has decreased. The quality hasn't gone down, but people's perception of it might. That's my biggest concern."
At Caterpillar's Carter Machinery Co. Inc. subsidiary in Salem, president Kenneth Laughon said: "I don't think it affected us one way or the other. We continued to operate during the strike. We received our machinery, engines and parts" without unusual delays. Carter Machinery is the Caterpillar-owned dealership for most of Virginia and southern West Virginia.
Laughon followed the strike by subscribing to the newspaper in Peoria, Ill., where Caterpillar has its headquarters, and passed clippings around his office to keep colleagues up to date.
The UAW had no immediate comment on the company's statement and its request for reassurance
Federal law says striking workers have a right to return to their jobs if they make an unconditional offer to return, said Glenn Zipp, a regional chief of the National Labor Relations Board.
Until workers are recalled, they will continue to get the equivalent of their strike pay - $300 a week, plus health insurance coverage for the foreseeable future, said Karl Mantyla, UAW spokesman.
Staff writers John Griessmayer and Jeff Sturgeon contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. A United Auto Workers member throws lumber from oneby CNBof the strike shacks at Caterpillar's East Peoria, Ill., plant into
a fire Monday. color.