Caterpillar lays off 200 workers; Schock blames Obama administration

Posted on January 8, 2015

Caterpillar cites weak market conditions as the reason the company is paying off 200 workers in Central Illinois. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Caterpillar)

By Metro News Service

PEORIA – About 200 Caterpillar workers in central Illinois are about to lose their jobs. 

Caterpillar executives say workers from their Decatur and East Peoria plants will be laid off on Jan. 19.  They say layoffs are a result of weak market conditions in the mining industry. The company will offer support services to workers who are laid off. There's no word on how long the layoffs will last.

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, issued a statement blaming the layoffs on the Obama administration, saying the jobs are the quote "latest casualty in the Obama administration's war on coal."

The Peoria Republican says coal miners in the 18th District have already lost their jobs due to the regulatory hostility of the Obama administration. Now, he said the workers who support that sector have been affected.

The Associated Press reported the Peoria-based company reported third-quarter net income of $1.02 billion, or $1.63 per share, in the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with $951 million, or $1.45 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.  
 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…