SOUTH MILWAUKEE ? United Steelworkers Local 1343 on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposed six-year contract with Caterpillar Inc. that would have frozen wages, increased contributions to health care costs and offered senior union employees fewer protections.
"Everybody is scared," said Ross Winklbauer, a Steelworkers subdistrict director for southeastern Wisconsin. "But our membership has stuck together."?
A vote count was not divulged.
The proposed agreement covers about 800 workers in South Milwaukee who, under the current contract, make $18 to $34 an hour. Caterpillar acquired the South Milwaukee plant in 2011 when it purchased Bucyrus International Inc., a maker of mining equipment, for $8.8 billion.
In voting down the contract, workers also authorized a strike. However, the union has yet to call for it. Workers are scheduled to work a normal workday Wednesday.
Under federal law, the company could lock out the workers when the current contract expires at midnight. Union leaders said they have spoken to the company and expressed their interest in returning to the negotiating table.
"We will now assess the situation and determine what, if any, are the appropriate next steps in this process," Caterpillar said in a statement. "In the meantime we will focus on working safely, meeting production levels and conducting business as usual as we focus on meeting customer needs."
The proposed contract also called for a lower wage rate for workers hired after May. It would have frozen pensions and would have directed employee retirement contributions toward a new 401(k) plan. Also, Caterpillar was offering a $2,500 bonus and annual bonuses through a new employee reward program.
Peoria-based Caterpillar told workers in March that it plans to lay off 40 percent of the South Milwaukee workforce by June, citing lower demand for mining equipment.
Experts say the proposed agreement was an example of how the country's middle class is eroding and what the new norm is for manufacturing jobs.
"Overall, this isn't the kind of agreement that builds a strong middle class," said Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
acancino@tribune.com
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