In the midst of an ugly labour dispute with workers at its London, Ont. subsidiary Electro-Motive, U.S. construction and mining equipment giant Caterpillar is still racking up big profits.The Illinois-based company announced Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings jumped 60 per cent. Caterpillar reported net income of $1.55 billion (all figures U.S.), or $2.32 per share, up from $968 million, or $1.47 per share last year.
Caterpillar locked out 500 workers at Electro-Motive after they rejected a contract offer that would have cut average wages at the plant from $35 per hour to $16.50 per hour.
The latest earnings release shows that Caterpillar had its best year-over-year profit increase since 1947, said Mike Moffatt, an economist at the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business.
“This isn’t a situation like the auto manufacturers a few years ago where they were asking for concessions because the survival of the company was at stake. Caterpillar is earning a lot of money,” said Moffatt.
The concessions Caterpillar is trying to get from its workers would make little difference to the company’s bottom line, Moffatt said.
“In the larger Caterpillar picture, Electro-Motive is just so small. The difference they’re talking about with their workers is about $20 million to $30 million. For Caterpillar, that would be like you or I looking between the couch cushions and finding a quarter,” said Moffatt.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Josh Rubin
No comments:
Post a Comment