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<p>JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — About 800 union workers who rejected Caterpillar Inc.'s latest contract offer walked off the job Tuesday at a plant in Joliet.</p> <p>Workers with picket signs lined up outside the plant early Tuesday, just hours after their contract expired. The employees, part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, are asking for better wages and health care. They voted Sunday to reject the Peoria-based company's latest contract offer.</p>

Caterpillar has ruled out building a planned new plant in Illinois due to the negative business climate, via AP: “Please understand that even if your community had the right logistics for this project, Caterpillar’s previously documented concerns about the business climate and overall fiscal health of the state of Illinois still would have made it unpractical for us to select your community for this project,” the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, says. Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman last year complained to Gov. Pat Quinn about the state’s business climate after Illinois raised income taxes. Oberhelman...

PEORIA -- Caterpillar Inc. will not be building its new North American plant anywhere in the state of Illinois, officials with the company told local leaders Tuesday, with part of the reason being continued concerns about the business climate in the state. The company will instead focus on a location closer to its division headquarters in Cary, N.C., Peoria County officials were told in an email sent to them shortly after the close of business and later obtained by the Journal Star. The plant stood to bring with it from Japan roughly 1,000 jobs manufacturing track-type tractors and mini hydraulic...

Snips from Excerpt only website: A lockout late Sunday of about 465 workers at a Canadian locomotive factory owned by a Caterpillar unit has renewed debate in Canada about the labor impact of foreign ownership. The action came after the employees in London, Ontario, rejected a contract proposed by Electro-Motive Canada. The Canadian Auto Workers union said the proposal would cut wages in half, substantially reduce benefits and end the current pension plan. But some of the union’s executive members have suggested that Caterpillar’s contract demands were intended to provoke a shutdown of the Canadian factory as a prelude to...

Without a fresh round of tax incentives, two iconic Illinois companies might soon be on the move. The companies -- Sears Holdings and CME Group -- are the latest in a series of Illinois firms to threaten departure after the state temporarily raised corporate taxes earlier this year. Sears Holdings, which has 6,100 employees at its corporate headquarters and operates both K-Mart and Sears stores, is looking for its current package of tax incentives to be extended. ... The stakes are high. Earlier this year, Caterpillar threatened to leave Illinois, an announcement that sparked something of a relocation competition among...

Caterpillar Inc. said it plans to shift production of small construction machinery from Japan to a new plant in North America that is expected to employ more than 1,000 people. The new plant, whose location wasn't identified, will become the company's global source for small bulldozers and mini-hydraulic excavators. It also will export partially assembled mini-excavators to Europe to improve delivery times for European customers. Caterpillar, which is based in Peoria, Ill., said it expects to begin construction during the first half of 2012.

The Presbyterian Church USA (PC USA) has accused Caterpillar, HP and Motorola of supporting the Israeli government in a "non-peaceful way." As a result of those claim, the Church has now indicated that it will divest of the companies' stock. The Church has been trying to convince Caterpillar to cease its indirect engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years, a PC USA representative wrote in a statement.Caterpillar, a producer of mining equipment, has “profited from sales of its products to Israeli military and civilian authorities, including its D-9 bulldozers which are used to demolish Palestinian homes and construct settlements and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Caterpillar Inc. to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations for shipping more than 590,000 highway and non-road diesel engines without the correct emissions controls. Caterpillar also allegedly failed to comply with emission control reporting and engine-labeling requirements. Caterpillar will pay a $2.55 million penalty, continue a recall of non-compliant engines, and reduce excess emissions… Caterpillar (must also recall the) non-compliant engines to install the correct ATDs and correct the fuel injector and fuel map settings. In addition to the recall.

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- Caterpillar Inc. avoided paying more than $2 billion in federal income taxes from 2000 to 2009 by accounting fraudulently for billions in dollars of profits, according to a lawsuit filed by a manager of the heavy equipment maker. Daniel Schlicksup, who was a global tax strategy manager for the company from 2005 to 2008, alleges that the company wrongly attributed at least $5.6 billion in profits from sales through an Illinois-based warehouse to its unit in Switzerland in order to lessen its tax burden and increase earnings. A spokesman for Caterpillar, which reported $2.7 billion in...

Greg Hengler reminds us why, as a politician, it’s wise to pick your friends and economic examples carefully. Early in his presidency, Barack Obama made an appearance at Caterpillar to claim that passing his Porkulus bill would keep the manufacturer of heavy equipment from conducting layoffs. Jim Owen, their CEO at the time, responded that Obama was wrong. Thanks to that dustup, the firm gets plenty of attention when it comes to Obama’s economic policies and friendliness towards the business and investment community.CNBC asked Caterpillar’s current CEO, Doug Oberhelman, to evaluate the changes made at the beginning of the year...

Profitable medicinal fungus a cash cow in rural communities. Harvesting of a parasitic fungus that grows high on the Tibetan Plateau in China is infusing hordes of cash into rural communities, scientists say. The fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, takes over the bodies of caterpillar larvae then shoots up like finger-size blades of grass out of the dead insects' heads. (See related pictures: "'Zombie' Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi.") Known as yartsa gunbu—or "summer grass winter worm"—by Chinese consumers, the nutty-tasting fungus is highly valued for its purported medicinal benefits, for instance, as a treatment for cancer and aging and as...

Lisa Leiter talks with UIC finance professor Robert Chirinko about the chances of Caterpillar leaving Illinois and what impact that would have on the state.

Caterpillar, Inc, one of the largest employers in the state of Illinois and an iconic symbol of heartland solidity, is seriously considering a move to another state. CEO Doug Oberhelman sent a letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, saying that "the pressure was on" from other states who are trying to woo the tractor maker and their 23,000 jobs away from their home in East Peoria. The Pantagraph: "I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what's right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest," Oberhelman wrote in the letter...

Caterpillar Inc., suggesting that it could shift jobs out of Illinois, is prodding its home state to cut government spending and roll back tax increases. Doug Oberhelman, chief executive officer of the giant Peoria, Ill.-based maker of construction and mining equipment, protested against the state's tax and spending policies in a March 21 letter to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who took office in January 2009. In the letter, first reported Friday by the Lee Enterprises newspaper chain and provided to The Wall Street Journal Saturday, Mr. Oberhelman said other states have stepped up their efforts to lure Caterpillar...

SPRINGFIELD -- The chairman and CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. is raising the specter of moving the heavy equipment maker out of Illinois. In a letter sent March 21 to Gov. Pat Quinn, Caterpillar chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said officials in at least four other states have approached the company about relocating since Illinois raised its income tax in January. "I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what's right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest," Oberhelman wrote in the letter obtained Friday by the Lee Enterprises Springfield...

Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar pulled out of a leading alliance of businesses and environmental groups pushing for climate change legislation on Tuesday, citing complaints that the bills under consideration are unfair to American industry. The sudden pullout of three corporate giants from a leading alliance of businesses and environmental groups could be the death knell for climate change legislation languishing on Capitol Hill. ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar's announced Tuesday they will pull out of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, citing complaints that the bills now in Congress are unfair...

Free Trade: While blaming corporate greed for jobs fleeing overseas, the administration remains silent on foreign tariffs that block our exports and make possible the looting of American technology. It's enough that corporations such as Caterpillar, one of the premier manufacturers of heavy equipment in the world, already are forced to operate under the world's second-highest corporate tax burden. They also face the looming threats of higher costs under ObamaCare and ever-more-stringent environmental regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency. Despite these burdens, which are reason enough to flee these shores for friendlier business climates, such companies still manage to make...

NEW YORK (AFP) – Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment, will build a factory in China to produce mini hydraulic excavators, the company said in a statement. Construction will begin in Wujiang, near Shanghai, at the end of 2010 and the facility should be ready in 2012 to begin production of mini excavators of less than eight tons, the company said Tuesday. Caterpillar did not say how much the project will cost. It is part of a long-term plan for investments in China that will make Caterpillar one of the leading manufacturers of construction equipment in the country....

Caterpillar is one excellent company. It is building new factories now in Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina, from which it will export products made by American workers all around the world. Its excellent worldwide parts distribution network gives its used equipment a very high resale value. But on September 29 Caterpillar announced it is building its twelfth factory in China -- this one to produce mini-excavators. Why can’t Caterpillar make a profit exporting mini-excavators to China? The answer is simple: China has a 30% tariff on all excavators. In fact it has a similar high tariff on just about every...

Caterpillar Inc. is telling its American employees in Mexico, particularly those with children, to return to the United States because of escalating violence there, the company said Thursday. About 40 American employees of Caterpillar facilities in Mexico, including in Monterrey, are affected by the company's order. Those employees all are salaried or management, said company spokesman Jim Dugan. "We have been and will continue to monitor and assess the security situation in Mexico and communicate with our employees in order to improve their safety. Based on recent guidance from the (U.S.) State Department, Caterpillar has informed expat employees in some...

The Iranian Web of Influence in the United States   By Hassan Daioleslam FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, April 02, 2008 On March 21, 2008, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced its decision to penalize three Iranian-connected companies as "they knowingly exported three U.S. origin aircraft to Iran in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and are preparing to re-export three additional U.S. origin aircraft to Iran in further violation of the EAR."1The principal firm among these is Balli Group PLC based in London. Iranian brothers Vahid and Hassan Alaghband own the company. Balli owns...

Caterpillar: The Rest Of The World Is Coming Back Fast, But Boy, America Is Horrible Joe Weisenthal Apr. 26, 2010, 8:27 AM Shares of Caterpillar (CAT) are up 3% pre-market after the earth-moving company reported strong earnings and raised its outlook. The numbers seem to be providing a lift to the overall market, but check out the internal numbers, and you see a WIDE disparity between what's going on globally, and what's going on domestically. Not surprisingly, Caterpillar loves Asia Pacific and Latin America. Here's Asia-Pacific: Asia/Pacific – Sales increased $469 million, or 40 percent. * Sales volume increased $356...

The news on healthcare reform this week is that right off the bat, the major corporations are discovering they will be losing stunning amounts to taxes as a result of Obamacare. Caterpillar, the first to speak out, reported it will take a one-time write-down of $100 million in order to account for the elimination of a federal tax refund it has been receiving for providing drug benefits to its retired employees. In the following days, AT&T, Verizon, 3M, Deer & Co., and AK Steel Holdings announced they would take similar write downs. AT&T's new tax bill will come to over...

Politics: Rep. Henry Waxman vowed to haul CEOs into hearings after they revealed just how much ObamaCare will cost their firms. It's an absurd war on bookkeeping, from a Congress desperate to avoid heat for this fiasco. In the wake of President Obama's presidential signature on the gargantuan Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last Thursday, big companies have crunched their numbers and come up with an ugly picture. In legally mandated filings, AT&T reported that ObamaCare will cost it $1 billion. Deere & Co. reported $150 million in new costs. Caterpillar must cough up $100 million. 3M must pay...

The latest addition to the mounting list of U. S. companies that have been hit by the new health care law is AT&T Inc. The company stated on Friday that it would incur $1 billion in non-cash expenses in the first quarter of the year. The announcement made by AT&T has been the largest amount reported till now. On comparison, Deere & Co. stated that it will be shelling out a one-time expense of $150 million and Caterpillar Inc. reported a first quarter charge of $100 million. Among the many changes that have come about since its enactment, the health...

Health Reform: As major businesses lay out the impact of ObamaCare in dollars and jobs, two things are clear: the costs will be enormous, and the president's vow to focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" can no longer be believed. Early returns on ObamaCare are coming in, and they belie proponents' claims of job creation and cost reduction. The costs will increase. They are merely being shifted to the states and to America's businesses, large and small. AT&T, the country's largest telephone company, announced Friday it will take a $1 billion first-quarter charge related to the new health care law. The...

Just over a year ago on February 12, Barack Obama spoke to Caterpillar employees at the plant in East Peoria, Illinois, and said the following: "So what's happening at this company tells us a larger story about what's happening with our nation's economy -- because, in many ways, you can measure America's bottom line by looking at Caterpillar's bottom line." In that address, Obama provided us with a barometer, a measure, a way to know whether legislation is good or bad in microcosm. And judging by Obama's VERY OWN STANDARD, his health care legislation is absolutely terrible: John Deere, Caterpillar,...

Congress passed the bill without knowing what was in it. Barack Obama signed it without reading it. Now it looks as though the Associated Press reported on ObamaCare without comprehending its content. Readers will have to scroll far down to discover that the elimination of a key tax break that kept retirees on company prescription-medication plans will mean dumping millions of seniors onto Medicare — and that the AP ignored it until now: The health care overhaul will cost U.S. companies billions and make them more likely to drop prescription drug coverage for retirees because of a change in how...

Companies Take Health-Care ChargesDeere Joins Caterpillar, AK Steel in Toting Up Costs of Overhaul; White House Disputes AccountingBY KRIS MAHER, ELLEN E. SCHULTZ AND BOB TITA MARCH 26, 2010 In the wake of Washington's health-care overhaul, some companies are taking big one-time charges for anticipated costs, fanning tension with the administration over the legislation's impact on corporate America. Three companies that were among vocal opponents of the legislation have warned they would see an immediate impact on their earnings as a result of the loss of deductions on tax-free subsidies they receive for providing retiree prescription-drug benefits. On Thursday, Deere...

In a letter Thursday to House leaders, Caterpillar said Democrats’ health care reform legislation would drive up its health care costs by more than 20 percent. Caterpillar, the heavy-equipment maker that President Obama cited last year in making his argument for a massive economic stimulus package, is opposing the health care bill nearing final passage, saying the bill would ramp up the company’s operating costs by $100 million alone in the first year and imperil coverage for its 150,000 employees and retirees. In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner, and provided to FoxNews.com,...

ObamaCare “would decrease costs…” is the nominal Democratic talking point regarding costs in the brave new world of government interference in the health care system. Of course, it’s a lie. It’s a lie that the Democratic members of Congress will repeat, and their lapdogs in the media will be all too happy to echo. Here is an example of the truth, one that you will never see in the MSM. Dow Jones Newswires | Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives would increase the company’s health-care costs by more than $100 million...

<p>By Bob Tita, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House would increase the company's health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone.</p>

PEORIA — Caterpillar Inc. is urging Congress to reject the health care reform bill now pending before it because of consequences the company believes it will have for the company as well as its retirees. In a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner, Caterpillar expressed disappointment in reform efforts put forth so far and said the legislation would drive up the company’s health costs by more than 20 percent — or more than $100 million — in the first year alone. The company, in the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president...

When Reuters Miscaptioned a Photo, They Changed an Accidental Death into a Murder A news story which shocked the world this week dealt with the crushing of American citizen Rachel Corrie by an IDF bulldozer, who ostensibly blocked with her body a bulldozer about to demolish the home of a Palestinian terrorist in Gaza, made huge headlines all over the world. I asked to speak with the spokesman of International Solidarity Movement Mike Shaik, who passed me on to Lynn Clausen, a 24-year old resident of Washington from the Christians Peacemakers Team based in Hebron, which trains the ISM volunteers....

The family of the American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago, is to bring a civil suit over her death against the Israeli defence ministry.

Although they never should have been a part of it in the first place, three major companies have exited the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of corporations and environmental groups. USCAP’s mission is to “quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” The House has obliged and the result, the Waxman-Markey bill, is too strong for both the Senate and the American people. Instead of taking a principled stand against massive government intervention in the energy economy, corporate executives argued that global warming legislation was coming anyway, so it was better to...

... Obama has his own theory of our current economic situation. His "first job," he told Chuck Todd of NBC News, was to stave off another "Great Depression," save government jobs (police, firefighters, teachers), and "make sure certain sectors of the economy were supported," such as "construction and infrastructure." "We've gotten that job done," he said. "Our next job is to make sure we can accelerate the job growth," he said. "So what we're seeing now is businesses are starting to invest again, they are starting to be profitable again, but they haven't started hiring again." What's the matter with...

PEORIA, Ill. - A union official says Caterpillar is laying off 75 employees at a central Illinois foundry and may close the plant for two months late this year if demand for its engines doesn't improve. Rick Doty is president of United Auto Workers Local 974. He says the 75 workers at the foundry in Mapleton will be laid off Monday. The town is about 10 miles south of Peoria, where Caterpillar is based. Doty says the company also has tentative plans to close the foundry and idle its 525 remaining workers in November and December.

Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens’s last minute opposition to the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, announced just prior to the House of Representatives’ vote, was reminiscent of Senator John Kerry’s infamous statement “I voted for it before I voted against it.” While Kerry’s embarrassing comment only hurt his presidential prospects, Owens’s promotion of global warming legislation has far-reaching consequences: the potential to cause irreparable harm to his company, customers, employees and our economy. After years of supporting a national law to limit carbon dioxide emissions through participation in the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a lobbying coalition pushing cap-and-trade legislation –...

As Cat announces factory shutdowns, Libertarians want Obama explanationMore jobs lost as ‘stimulus’ bill delays economic recovery WASHINGTON -- America’s third largest party Wednesday asked President Barack Obama to explain to the American people why his $787 billion “stimulus” government expansion plan has once again failed to deliver on even its most basic promises. “If he has time to explain why Congress should outlaw private health insurance and force Americans into expensive, rationed care he has the time to explain why exploding the deficit and expanding government isn’t creating prosperity,” said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. “...if Congress...

Caterpillar Inc. is emptying out its Illinois factories at the fastest rate in a quarter-century as it copes with a wrenching drop in global demand by accelerating a shift to producing equipment in lower-cost locales. After the latest cutbacks, which have been playing out in recent weeks, the number of United Auto Workers members on the job at Caterpillar's factory near Aurora is expected to be down by nearly half, to about 1,100, says Local 145 President Mark Patton. Plants in Pontiac and Decatur are expected to see equal drops, union leaders estimate. And at plants in the company's hometown...

PONTIAC -- The number of Caterpillar Inc. employees laid off Friday at the Pontiac plant was not disclosed, union officials said. Larry Stine, financial secretary for the United Auto Workers Local 2096, previously said 66 union members were to be laid off. Friday was the last day for some, and June 19 will be the last day for the others. About 400 workers have been laid off since the fall, and officials have no word on when anyone would be recalled, Stine said. Caterpillar officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

This big dozer, the Caterpillar D7E, is the first to use a hybrid power train.(Credit: CNET) On the way to a demonstration of Caterpillar's first hybrid dozer, I was expecting it would be one of the little ones, the kind used to dig pools and landscape suburban back yards. But looming up in the middle of Holt of California, a Caterpillar dealer outside Sacramento, Calif., was a huge beast, a massive yellow earth mover, the metal tracks of which came up to my waist. The Caterpillar D7E was a lot bigger than the little hybrid I was expecting. A Caterpillar...

Caterpillar, the heavy equipment manufacturer, is moving to lay off more than 20,000 workers. These days such mass layoffs are sadly unsurprising, but are they ethical? If Caterpillar is to relegate legions of employees to the care of the public, it may not simply echo Ebenezer Scrooge: “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? Is there no COBRA?” Instead, it must use its considerable political clout to ensure that those programs are robustly funded, hardly a priority either for Caterpillar or its confreres among the Fortune 500. That is, if Caterpillar is to deprive thousands of people of a...

Jim Owens, the chief executive officer of Caterpillar, said the equipment manufacturer will see a boost from China's stimulus package before the U.S. stimulus package. Owens also warned against curbing global free trade through "Buy American" initiatives. "The biggest risk of this very serious recession turning into a three-year depression scenario would be a turn toward nationalism and isolationism," said Owens.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT - News), the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, reported its first quarterly loss in 17 years on Tuesday, pulled into the red by more than half a billion dollars in charges from its wave of recession-triggered layoffs. The company also slashed its full-year earnings and sales forecast, sending its shares lower in early trading.

Peoria, IL (AHN) - Heavy equipment manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) began layoffs at its Decatur, IL plant two weeks earlier than scheduled because of slowing world wide demand for its trucks and earth moving equipment.Layoffs weren't supposed to begin at that central Illinois plant until April 13, but it cut more than 1,000 jobs two weeks early there. Layoffs at its East Peoria plant will still begin April 13. The company is laying off 1,026 employees in Decatur and another 700 in East Peoria.Those layoffs are part of 24,000 scheduled worldwide, but don't include rolling temporary layoffs.

Q What concrete items that you got out of this G20 can you tell the American people back home who are hurting, the family struggling, seeing their retirement go down, or worrying about losing their job -- what happened here today that helps that family back home in the heartland? PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, as I said before, we've got a global economy, and if we're taking actions in isolation in the United States, but those actions are contradicted overseas, then we're only going to be halfway effective -- maybe not even half. You've seen, for example, a drastic decline in...

<p>PARIS (March 31) - Angry French workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar factory detained four of their bosses Tuesday at the U.S. manufacturer's plant in the Alps and refused to let them leave the premises, union representatives said.</p> <p>It is the third time in several weeks that French workers have seized their bosses to protest job losses as a result of the global economic crisis.</p>

<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois business leaders are telling Gov. Pat Quinn that higher taxes could lead to lost jobs.</p>