At one time, there was a notion that when the company was successful then you were as well. Success was more than counting the dollars; it was about making a product that people need, helping your suppliers and building your local community. A successful business does not exist in isolation.
Last year, Caterpillar made almost 43 billion dollars in sales and revenues. The CEO earned more than10 million dollars. Where is the sense of corporate responsibility to their employees and the community that made them so profitable? The EMD guys build trains, a product that binds this country together. I feel that Caterpillar is not only attacking unionized workers; they are attacking the middle class. These guys are not business leaders in the best sense of the term; they are more like ruthless buccaneers of old, who are pillagingour communities.
It appears that if EMD workers don’t play ball then they will ship these jobs down to the United States to take advantage of the current buy American policies and state financial incentives. However, I suspect that the moment it becomes cheaper to produce in Mexico, Brazil or China then those jobs will disappear. I don’t see this as US versus Canada thing. This is the middle class versus a bunch of corporate buccaneers who have no loyalties to any workers, communities or countries.
FCSD Studio 