Free Republic

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>

Obama appeared at the East Peoria plant last month, saying Caterpillar would be able to rehire laid-off workers if Congress approved his stimulus plan. The Stimulus plan has been passed and this week Caterpillar announced an additional 2,200 job cuts, more than 1,500 of those layoffs will be in Illinois.

Last month, Barack Obama challenged Congress to pass his stimulus package at a visit to the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Illinois, claiming that the company’s CEO assured him that it would allow Caterpillar to rehire laid-off workers. CEO Jim Owens disputed that, saying that the stimulus wouldn’t have enough effect, and that more layoffs would come regardless of whether Congress passed the bill. So who was right?

PITTSBURGH – Caterpillar Inc. announced a fresh round of job cuts Tuesday, laying off more than 2,400 employees at five plants in Illinois, Indiana and Georgia as the heavy equipment maker continues to cut costs amid the global economic downturn. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, has seen its sales wither as the sluggish world economy and credit crises weaken demand for its products used to build everything from houses to highways. The company had expanded dramatically in recent years, helped by a building boom in developing countries. [snip] In the latest cuts, the Peoria, Ill.-based...

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Caterpillar Inc. told 439 employees at its Lafayette factory that it plans to lay them off for at least six months. The company, a major manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, said 405 production employees and 34 management and support workers are involved. Caterpillar cited lower demand for products made in Lafayette as the reason for the layoffs. The plant makes diesel engines for marine, petroleum, electric power, locomotive and industrial applications. Company officials said the move will help it get through "a very challenging global business environment" and warned additional layoffs could come later this year.

In February, in the build up to the ultimate passage of President Barack Obama's $787-billion stimulus package, there was a lot of discussion about how much the stimulus was going to help the ailing economy. And to promote the bill, Obama visited a Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Ill. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., who represents the 18th Congressional District of Illinois, where the Caterpillar plant is located, described Obama's visit and how he used it to lobby him to vote for the bill. It was another side of the story that went unreported by the media. Obama singled out Schock in...

Here is video of ABC News' Jake Tapper nailing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to the wall today on President Obama's statement yesterday, directly contradicted by Caterpillar's CEO, that passage of the Stimulus Plan would lead Caterpillar to rehire laid off workers. He also asked Gibbs what it says about Obama that no Caterpillar workers lobbied Rep. Aaron Schock to vote for the Stimulus Bill despite Obama putting him on the spot yesterday to do so in front of the workers. In both cases, Gibbs refused to really address the questions. Jake Tapper is showing himself to be a...

Caterpillar is a proud American company. We were born in California, made our home in Illinois and maintained a strong U.S. manufacturing base that serves the global marketplace. We are also proud of our global footprint, which allows us to compete and support Cat equipment throughout the world. Today more than half of what we produce in the U.S. is exported to markets outside the United States. We are also a company that will benefit from the infrastructure component of the $819 billion stimulus package that passed the U.S. House. But there is one element of the stimulus proposal that...

This is awkward, like truly first-date awkward, when your hands brush and the other one pulls away. President Barack Obama speaking at the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria, Illinois Thursday afternoon on his economc stimulus plan (see video below) still before Congress: "When they finally pass our plan, I believe it will be a major step forward on our path to economic recovery. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid...

President Obama preached a message of hope about the economy here Thursday, praising employees gathered in a Caterpillar plant for soldiering through tough times, and he promised that help is on the way. But the audience was dotted with dispirited workers who had just gotten word of 20,000 layoffs coming at the heavy-equipment giant, and though community leaders and managers cheered Obama’s words, others in the crowd were in no mood to join in. "It really doesn't mean anything," plant employee John Melaga said as a jubilant march blared from the loudspeakers. The company will "do whatever it takes to...

Why are CEO's of companies like Caterpillar still inviting this anti-business, power-hungry, tyrant-in-training to their companies? Oh, yeah... because he's printing up Billions in new money and doling it out to the CEO's. Seems the Obamaton socialist fascists have figured out the secret - Capitalists can be bought, and that's not so hard to do when you have the keys to the printing press.

EAST PEORIA, ILL. -- ..... Obama today repeated the claim .... that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.".... But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite....

At a Caterpillar Inc. plant in Peoria, Ill., today, President Obama said that his proposed economic stimulus would allow the company's CEO to rehire recently laid-off employees. But the head of the company said he will have to fire more workers before he can rehire anyone who has been let go. Obama says stimulus will mean rehiring for Caterpillar, the CEO negates claim.Obama has said twice in the past two days that Caterpillar CEO James Owens indicated his company would be able to rehire some of the 20,000 recently laid-off employees. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if...

EAST PEORIA, ILL. -- President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs last month. But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite. Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start...

The CEO of Caterpillar has directly contradicted an assertion made yesterday by President Barack Obama, and again today, that Caterpillar will rehire some of the 22,000 workers it laid off last month if the Obama Stimulus Plan passes Congress. CEO James Owens said exactly the opposite at a press conference today. In fact, he said they would probably have to lay off more workers. The video shows Obama making the assertion, and then the direct contradiction by the Caterpillar CEO. This is another outstanding reporting job by Jake Tapper of ABC News. He is showing himself to be the class...

EAST PEORIA, ILL. -- President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs last month. But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite. Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start...

From the gang that couldn't shoot straight. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6866999 The system wants to auto-excerpt ".go.com" from the URL. You may need to add it to the link to make it run, but you can find the video by going to ABC news website and searching for "Caterpillar"

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says Caterpillar's chief executive has told him the company will rehire some laid-off workers if the stimulus bill passes.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says Caterpillar's chief executive has told him the company will rehire some laid-off workers if the stimulus bill passes. The heavy equipment maker announced more than 22,000 job cuts last month as it scales back production amid the economic slowdown. During a visit to a transportation construction site just outside Washington in Springfield, Va., on Wednesday, Obama urged Congress to pass the bill. The House and Senate are

The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision. The Church of England said Monday that it withdrew £2.2 million ($3.3 million) from Caterpillar Inc. in late December 2008 because of economic considerations. Israel used bulldozers bought from the U.S.-based manufacturer of construction and mining equipment to demolish Palestinian homes. " The Church of England withdrew shares it...

Caterpillar Inc. will cut an additional 2,110 production jobs at Illinois facilities, the heavy-equipment manufacturer said Friday, as it wrestles with a sharp decline in sales tied to a drop-off in commercial construction and tighter lending standards. "Depending on business conditions, more layoffs and separations may be required as the year unfolds," the Peoria, Ill., company (CAT:Caterpillar Inc News , chart , profile , more CAT 30.39, -1.46, -4.6%) said in an statement. In total, the Dow Jones Industrial Average component now plans to reduce its workforce by 22,110, or nearly 20% of its personnel. That the new layoffs would...

The Obama recession is getting worse, as tens of thousands of blue collar jobs have been cut at major companies since Jan. 20, the day Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as president. Caterpillar Inc said on Monday that quarterly earnings fell more than 32 percent and warned of a tough year ahead as the downturn that began in the United States metastasized into a full-blown global recession that hit sales of its earth-moving equipment. The company also warned that profit in 2009 would be under severe pressure and said that it would cut about 17,000 workers and buy out 2,500...

Economy: No one has pleaded as earnestly for Congress to pass a Colombia free-trade pact as Caterpillar. Now, with earnings down and 20,000 American jobs to be lost, it's obvious why. Trade would have cushioned this blow.Caterpillar dragged the entire stock market down on Monday after it reported a painful drop in fourth-quarter earnings. Twelve thousand American workers and 8,000 American contractors are set to lose their jobs as a result. What's terrible is some of these job losses shouldn't have happened. No company, of course, can evade all the ill effects of a global recession, and Caterpillar is just...

SEGUIN — Caterpillar Inc. will build a $170 million engine-manufacturing plant here that will employ more than 1,400 people, company and state officials announced Thursday. The economic development coup for Texas is part of the consolidation of Caterpillar's engine plants in Illinois — where a plant closing and layoffs were announced Thursday — and South Carolina.

EAST PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- The United Auto Workers union filed an unfair labor practice charge against Caterpillar Inc. over a smoking ban that goes into effect at all of its U.S. properties on Sunday. The union claims the ban goes against guarantees in the UAW contract, and that such a policy shift is subject to collective bargaining. The union says smoking has been a contractual privilege for 60 years. Caterpillar, however, said it was time to end smoking at work. "It would be unfortunate and disappointing if some employees decide to strike over the company's decision to prohibit smoking...

PEORIA - Caterpillar Inc. doesn't plan to stop at being the No. 1 construction equipment maker in the world. It's aiming for the universe, with NASA as its partner. Caterpillar and NASA - the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - are getting closer to having the right earthmoving - er, moonmoving - equipment available to put on the moon in less than a decade to build habitats, roads and other infrastructure that could sustain life on the lunar surface. "We're pretty far along. I would say our partnership with Caterpillar is right on schedule," said Lucien Junkin, NASA's chief engineer...

Paul warned us about times like this and the way people – including those claiming to be professing Christians – would act. I strongly believe Paul had in mind the kind of people who run major Protestant denominations like the United Methodist Church. Today, at an event in Fort Worth, Texas, leaders of the denomination, which boasts membership by President Bush and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will consider divesting from all companies that do business with Israel. To say that even considering such an action is hateful, unbiblical, anti-Christian and evil would be an understatement. It's not even understandable except...

Rachel Corrie was killed by Israeli forces over four years ago while working in Gaza as a peaceworker with the International Solidarity Movement. Her family filed a lawsuit in US court against the American company which built the Caterpillar-brand bulldozer that killed Corrie, but that lawsuit has now been dismissed by a Judge in the US Court of Appeals. Bla Bla Bla Caterpillar brand D9 armored bulldozer - Articles Photo D9 bulldozer with IDF soldier - credit SmallDeadAnimals

Methodist renewal advocate Mark Tooley says United Methodist Church officials are urging church agencies and members to divest their holdings in Caterpillar Incorporated, for doing business with Israel. Tooley, who directs the United Methodist Committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, says the UMC has about $15 million of Caterpillar stock in its pension fund. But he says the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society has unveiled a proposal to divest from Caterpillar ahead of the church's governing General Conference in April. Several United Methodist regional conferences have endorsed anti-Israel divestment, according to Tooley. "It's another example...

from the Christian News Wire release: Methodist Lobbyist Takes Anti-Israel Divestment Agenda to Doorstep of Caterpillar Tractor "The United Methodist Board of Church and Society apparently believes that the roadmap for Middle East peace leads through Peoria, Illinois. Does anyone really think that punishing Caterpillar will help create a peace in the Middle East?" -- Mark Tooley, Executive Director UMAction Contact: Loralei Coyle 202-682-4131, 202-905-6852 cell, lcoyle@ird-renew.org; Radio Interviews: Jeff Walton, jwalton@ird-renew.org; both with the Institute on Religion and Democracy WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- The chief of the United Methodist Church's official lobby office is meeting tomorrow in...

>As the year comes to a close, it’s time to announce the FiveWorst CEOs of 2007. The CEOs shared a common theme: they allowed the liberalagenda embodied by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to drive businessdecisions.  All of the “winners� are actively seeking federal regulationto address global warming despite the fact they failed to evaluate the economiccost of regulation – higher energy prices, slower economic growth and anincrease in job loss – on consumers and future earnings.  In addition, the CEOs also failed toanticipate the unintended consequences of promoting global warming fears ontheir businesses. The desire for regulation is an outgrowth...

Just what kind of company would be considered an infrastructure play? -- Z.P. The roads we drive on, the electricity we use, even the lines of communication that bring Web sites like this to our computers: infrastructure is a major part of our everyday lives. These days, though, the private sector is becoming increasingly responsible for infrastructure. Does this make infrastructure a good investment? Let's take a look. What Is Infrastructure? Generally speaking, infrastructure is the group of facilities that support networks and systems in our society. To be more specific, infrastructure includes things like transportation systems, communication networks and...

Will it be a long, hard winter? Let's ask Mr. Woolly Bear Caterpillar. If the cute fuzzy crawler has a big brown stripe in the middle and smaller black stripes on each end, winter will be mild. A small brown stripe in the middle and bigger black stripes, winter will be harsh. At least that's the scoop in the bug world. Scurrying squirrels portend long, cold days ahead if they squirrel away as many acorns and nuts they can find, putting up extra provisions for the bleak days ahead. It might not be science, but considering the batting average of...

The parents of Rachel Corrie, the US peace activist who was crushed to death four years ago in the then Israeli-occupied Gaza as she was protesting against the demolition of Palestinian homes, have been refused permission to sue the company which made the bulldozer that killed her. On Monday a federal appeals court ruled that Caterpillar Inc, the Illinois-based company that has supplied several bulldozers used by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in house demolitions in the occupied territories, could not be sued as to do so would bring the judiciary into conflict with the executive branch of the US...

<p>A federal appeals court panel has refused to reinstate a lawsuit brought against Caterpillar Inc. by the family of a 23-year-old peace activist crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer.</p>

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge: Plaintiffs Cynthia and Craig Corrie, Mahmoud Al Sho’bi, Fathiya Muhammad Sulayman Fayed, Fayez Ali Mohammed Abu Hussein, Majeda Radwan Abu Hussein, and Eida Ibrahim Suleiman Khalafallah filed this action after their family members were killed or injured when the Israeli Defense Forces (“IDF”) demolished homes in the Palestinian Territories using bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar, Inc., a United States corporation. The IDF ordered the bulldozers directly from Caterpillar, but the United States government paid for them. The district court dismissed the action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), finding it lacked jurisdiction because, inter alia, the political...

(PEORIA) - Caterpillar Inc. announced Tuesday it will begin making small and medium-sized diesel engines in China, including some from a new manufacturing facility it plans to build there. The company said the engines will be made at facilities in Wuxi in the Jiangsu province, according to a memorandum of understanding reached with the Wuxi National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. It's part of a multi-year investment to develop and manufacture the engines, which will be sold under the Caterpillar and Perkins brands. "This is about increasing our global capacity to meet customer demand," said spokesman Rusty Dunn. "It's a significant...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments Monday whether there is merit to a lawsuit by the family of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old activist from Olympia killed by a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003. The defendant in the case is Caterpillar, which made the D9 bulldozer involved in her death. The case, Corrie et al. v. Caterpillar, was filed in Seattle in 2005, but a district court dismissed it. After this hearing, the appeals court will rule whether the suit should be dismissed or sent back to the lower court. Cindy and Craig...