Caterpillar, Inc. Chanters
- Artist/Author/Producer: Caterpillar, Inc. factory workers
- Confronting Bodies: Caterpillar, Inc. management
- Dates of action: March 1994
- Location: Pontiac, IL
- Description of the Art Work
- Slogans such as "No contract, no peace," and "Hey, hey, ho, ho. The final
offer has to go."
- Description of incident
- About 175 members of the United Automobile Workers union briefly walked
off their jobs at a Caterpillar factory after being told they could no
longer chant anti-company slogans in the plant. Caterpillar and the
union have been locked in a contract dispute for two and a half years.
The struggle included a 163-day strike that collapsed in April 1992 when
the company imposed its final offer and threatened to replace all
strikers.
- Results of incident
- The company said they weren't going to tolerate it anymore and that
further chants could lead to disciplinary action, up to and including
dismissal, according to Walter Koprowski, bargaining chairman for UAW Local
2096. The walkout was brief and included only the workers from one shift.
Susan Rittenhouse, a company spokeswoman, said the company had received a
letter from the union making an unconditional offer to return to work.
Source: New York Times (AP), March 9, 1994