RACINE, Wis. (AP) -- More than 600 workers at four CNH Global NV plants in the Midwest walked off their jobs Wednesday over the failure to negotiate a new six-year contract with the maker of farm and construction equipment.þþThe strike shut down tractor production at the Racine manufacturing operation and three other plants. The main impact was reported to be in Racine and Burlington, Iowa, where backhoe loaders are made.þþ``They told us at 10 o'clock, and they walked out at noon,'' CNH spokesman Jeff Walsh said. ``Production has stopped.''þþWalsh declined to comment on plans for plant operations.þþOn strike were 350 workers in Racine; 225 in Burlington, Iowa; 32 in St. Paul, Minn.; and 13 in Burr Ridge, Ill., said John Valko, president of United Auto Workers Local 180.þþA six-year contract for the workers expired May 2, and Local 180 members have worked without a new contract since then, Valko said.þþThe company and the union had been negotiating since April but couldn't agree. In May, workers held ratification votes but didn't approve what CNH said would be its final offer.þþValko said the offer ``takes us back about 40 years worth of concessions'' in health benefits and wages for new hires. He cited increased health-care premiums and reduced services, saying prescription drug coverage, for example, would go from 100 percent to 70 percent.þþThe company also wants to keep the wages of workers hired after May 1998 frozen until new hires catch up with them, he said.þþWorkers said they would be picketing around the clock in front of the Racine factory.þþCal Rapson, a UAW vice president who directs the national union's Agricultural Implement Department, issued a statement saying the job action was needed to reach a fair labor agreement.þþ``The company's contract demands, particularly in the area of health care, simply do not reflect the value our members contribute to CNH,'' he said.þþJose Salgado of Racine has worked for the company for 30 years.þþ``It is dangerous,'' he said. ``We don't know. We didn't expect it to get this far. ... The company is making all kinds of money, but it's not willing to share.''þþItalian carmaker Fiat SpA owns about 85 percent of CNH.þþCNH, a Dutch company with U.S. headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill., is Fiat's agricultural and construction equipment maker.þþLast week, CNH reported net third-quarter income of $25 million and said net sales of agricultural equipment had increased 14 percent compared with the same quarter in 2003.þþ
Source: NY Times
