RSSDespite Obama’s Claim, Caterpillar Cuts More Jobs
Carolyn Hileman - The Voice | March 22, 2009
The mainstream press provided wide coverage when President Barack Obama said equipment maker Caterpillar would rehire laid-off workers if Congress passed his stimulus package.
But the media were relatively quiet about that claim when Caterpillar recently announced that not only would it not rehire workers, but was cutting additional jobs.
Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, announced 22,000 job cuts in January, and later offered early retirement to another 2,000 employees.
On Wednesday, Feb. 11, The Associated Press reported in a widely disseminated story that Obama said “Caterpillar has informed him it will rehire some of the thousands of workers it has laid off in recent weeks if Congress passes an economic stimulus bill . . .
“The president’s travel to pitch the urgency of the stimulus plan was his third day in a row to leave Washington. On Thursday, he goes to Peoria, Ill., to visit a Caterpillar manufacturing plant.”
But on March 17, The Associated Press reported that Caterpillar announced plans to lay off more than 2,400 additional workers.
“In the latest cuts,” AP stated, Caterpillar “said 2,365 support and management workers had been notified of layoffs expected to last at least six months . . . and 89 workers will be let go permanently.
Among the affected workers are 911 employees at the Caterpillar plant in East Peoria.
Caterpillar “also said more layoffs may be needed as the year continues,” according to the AP — which made no mention of Obama’s earlier statement about the company and the stimulus bill.
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