“It’s bad here too, lots of layoffs here in Caterpillar country.”
It doesn’t look better for Cat for some time.
A good friend of mine has a lowbed service and hauls construction equipment in the western US and in the last 6 months he’s been lucky to get 3 jobs a week when he usually did 3-4/day.
I’m from Peoria, IL. Many of my uncles, cousins, etc. worked for Cat. Seemed to me if they weren’t on layoff, they were on strike for better pay. Especially in the 80s. Some finally got wise, moved elsewhere and found steadier work, even though at lower pay. My great grandmother retired from Cat though, and had a fairly comfortable retirement. She was careful with her money, didn’t live the high life, but had what she needed. I’m told when it was family-owned, Cat was really good to their employees and the community. That ended when the union came in. Is this another case of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?