The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said that workers at four local Caterpillar chapters have voted in favor of a new six-year labor contract, preventing a strike at the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment.
The agreement contained a 27% combined wage increase and lump sum payments over a six-year period, an increase in company contributions to retirement schemes, and a $6,000 incentive.
UAW announced in a statement on Sunday that the provisions of the deal are effective immediately.
However, the most recent agreement included a freeze on facility closures, following years of CAT relocating manufacturing to other U.S. locations and the 2017 shutdown of its Aurora, Illinois factory.
The company’s rank-and-file union workers have expressed displeasure and irritation over the agreement, claiming that wage increases were not commensurate with growing inflation.
After agreeing to employer concessions in prior contracts that froze wages throughout the Great Recession, several members view the new contract to be the best CAT has provided in years.
The deal covers nearly 7,000 union members at factories in central Illinois and a parts distribution hub in York, Pennsylvania. It was unclear at first how many members voted to approve the pact.