The power of the Unions may be on the decline in the US, but is still alive and well in Canada, for the time being. Two major companies have decided to take on the Canadian Unions in separate disputes. US based Caterpillar locked out some 450 union workers at a locomotive plant in London, Ontario, while Anglo-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto Alcan, locked out approximately 780 union workers at a smelter in Alma, Quebec.The dispute at Caterpillar revolves around wages. Union officials said Caterpillar's latest proposal would reduce workers benefits, and halve wages cutting hourly pay to CAD$16.50 ($16.17) from the currently hourly wage of CAD$34.00 ($32.32). A new Caterpillar locomotive production facility in Muncie, Indiana may absorb the jobs in Windsor, but Caterpillar has not announced any plans.
The situation at the Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) plant came to a head after Unions refused the company's latest offer which was the result of negotiations starting back in October. The unresolved issue between the two parties involves the conditions related to subcontracted labor, which RTA believes is important to the future of their business.
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