Members of Local 851 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers are entering their fourth month of a strike against Caterpillar Inc., with no end in sight. Despite a series of highly profitable quarters, Caterpillar proposed a contract that would double health care premiums, eliminate pensions and seniority rights, and freeze wages for any workers hired prior to May 2005. Union members walked out on May 1, and almost all are preserving despite the strike's impact on their personal finances.
See "Caterpillar strike inches on in Joliet", Alejandra Cancino, Chicago Tribune, July 31, 2012