In "The Caterpillar Labor Dispute and the UAW, 1991-1998," Isaac Cohen contests the popular notion that the UAW's dispute with Caterpillar resulted in a major defeat for the union. He states that the struggle's outcome did not end in an unconditional union surrender because the UAW obtained a contract that was considerably better than the company's imposed terms and conditions during the dispute. Cohen argues that had the UAW International adopted a different strategy during this dispute the union would have experienced a more favorable outcome. I challenge Cohen's views and argue that, although the UAW membership launched heroic and militant strikes against Caterpillar, the dispute ultimately ended in a decisive union defeat.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bologna, Michael.1995. UAW rejects Caterpillar proposal, but agrees to end 17-month strike. Bureau of National Affairs Daily Labor Report 233 , sec. A (December 5): 1-3.
2.
____ 1998a. UAW urges Caterpillar employees to ratify new tentative agreement. Bureau of National Affairs Daily Labor Report 53, sec. A (March 19):9-10.
3.
______ 1998b. Caterpillar, UAW agree to peace but harmony is still years away. Bureau of National Affairs Daily Labor Report 64, sec. C (April 3): 1-4.
4.
Bronfenbrenner, Kate, and Tom Juravich.2001. The evolution of strategic and coordinated bargaining campaigns in the 1990s: The steelworkers' experience. In Rekindling the movement: Labor's quest for relevance in the 21st century , edited by Lowell Turner, Harry C. Katz, and Richard W. Hurd.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
5.
Cimini, Michael H.1998. Caterpillar, UAW strike ends. Compensation and Working Conditions3, no. 3 (fall): 4-11.
6.
Cohen, Isaac.1985a. Industrial capitalism, technology and labor relations: The early cotton industry in Lancashire (1770-1840) and New England (1790-1870). Political Power and Social Theory5: 89-140.
7.
____ 1985b. American management and British labor: Lancashire immigrant spinners in industrial New England. Comparative Studies in Society and History27, no. 4 (October): 608-650.
8.
____ 1990a. Political climate and two airline strikes: Century Air in 1932 and Continental Airlines in 1985. Industrial and Labor Relations Review43, no. 2 (January): 308,23.
9.
___ 1990b. American management and British labor: A comparative study of the cotton spinning industry. New York: Greenwood Press.
10.
____ 2000. David L. Behncke, the airline pilots, and the New Deal: The struggle for federal labor legislation. Labor History41, no. 1 (February): 47-62.
11.
___ 2002. The Caterpillar labor dispute and the UAW, 1991-1998. Labor Studies Journal27, no. 4 (winter): 77-99.
12.
Franklin, Stephen.2001. Three strikes: Labor's heartland losses and what they mean for working Americans. New York: The Guilford Press.
13.
Gangemi, Columbus R. and Joseph J. Torres.1996. The corporate campaign at Caterpillar. Journal of Labor Research17, no. 3 (summer): 377-394.
14.
Getman, Julius.1998. The betrayal of Local 14. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press.
15.
Green, Hardy.1990. On strike at Hormel: The struggle for a democratic labor movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
16.
Jarley, Paul, and Cheryl Maranto.1990. Union corporate campaigns: An assessment . Industrial and Labor Relations Review43, no. 5 (July): 505-524.
17.
Jones, Shannon, and Barry Grey.1995. UAW debacle at Caterpillar: The political lessons. (December 18). http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/cat.htm . (Accessed June 11, 2004.)
18.
Juravich, Tom, and Kate Bronfenbrenner. 1999. Ravenswood: The steelworkers' victory and the revival of American labor. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
19.
Manheim, Jarol B.2001. The death of a thousand cuts: Corporate campaigns and the attack on the corporation. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
20.
Perry, Charles R.1987. Union corporate campaigns. Philadelphia : Industrial Research Unit, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
21.
Rachleff, Peter.1993. Hard-pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel strike and the future of the labor movement. Boston: South End Press.
22.
Rosenblum, Jonathan D.1995. Copper crucible: How the Arizona Miners' Strike of 1983 recast labor-management relations in America. Ithaca, NY : ILR Press.
23.
Waldinger, Roger, Chris Erickson, Ruth Milkman, Daniel J.B. Mitchell, Abel Valenzuela, Kent Wong, and Maurice Zeitlin.1998. Helots no more: A case study of the Justice for Janitors Campaign in Los Angeles. In Organizing to win: New research on union strategies, edited by Kate Bronfenbrenner, Sheldon Friedman, Richard W. Hurd, Rudolph A. Oswald, and Ronald L. Seeber.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
